
Glass _ 
Book. 



COMPEND 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTOHY, 



FOR THE FSE OF 



wmm m^wm 



THEOLOGICAL STUDENTS. 



BY HENRY M. MASON, M. A. 

luthor of i; A translation from the Greek of St. Cliyrsostom 
on the Priesthood" 



NEW- YORK : 

PUBLISHED BY G. & C. CARVILL. 

1828. 



^ 



^ ^> 



Southern District of New-York, ss< 
BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the 19th day of May, in 
the 52d year of the Independence of the United States of Amer- 
ica, G. & C. CARVILL, of the said District, have deposited in 
this office the title of a Book, the right whereof they claim as 
Proprietors, in the words following, to wit : 

A Compend of Ecclesiastical History, for the use of the Laity and 
Theological Students. By Henry M. Mason, M. A. Author 
of " A translation from the Greek of St. Chrysostom on the 
Priesthood" 

In conformity to the Act of Congress of the United States, 
entitled, " An Act for the encouragement of Learning, by secu- 
ring the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the authors and 
proprietors of such copies, during the time therein mentioned." 
And also to an Act, entitled " An Act, supplementary to an act, 
entitled an Act for the encouragement of Learning, by securing 
the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the authors and pro- 
prietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned, and 
extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, 
and etching historical and other prints." 

FRED. J. BETTS, 
Clerk of the Southern District of New-York. 



PREFACE. 



For presenting the following pages to the public, I have 
no other or better apology, than a belief of their proving 
useful. A natural bias having led me to pay particular at- 
tention to Ecclesiastical History, I early perceived that solid 
and extensive information on that subject, could only be 
gained by a strict and impartial reference to the earliest 
writers of the Christian era. The extensive library of the 
seminary to which I was attached, and I must add, the judi- 
cious direction given to my studies by its able professors, 
furnished means and opportunities which I hope were not 
neglected or misused. From the periud of my entering 
that institution, when it was located in New-Haven, I con- 
templated a work much more copious than that which I 
now offer the public, and my notes on the first five centuries 
were amply and I believe faithfully collected from the 
writings of tuose ages. But an accident induced me to 
change, at least for the present, my original design. In 
point of general accuracy and faithfulness, no historian has 
been more highly or justly commended than Dr. Mosheim, 
and in the course of my search for books on Church history 
I met with an epitome of that author recommended by him- 
self in the following words : " Nempe laborem meam in 
" Epitomen redigendi, pro sua erga me voluntate, etegregio 
u boni publici studio imponi sibi passus est, vir clarissimus, 
" doctrina, pietate, ingenio, prsestans, Johannes Miller. Is 
M igitur amicus meus, quocum complures annos conjuncte 
" vixi, negotium hoc tsedii plenum hilariter suscepit, tamque 



IV PREFACE. 

" feliciter superavit, ut in exemplisponi possit. Magna fide 
" quae scripseram exhibet, demptisque ornaraentis uberiori- 
" bus judiciis alienique fori observationibus, historiam ipsam 
*'• nudamiet puram, quod ipsum fieri volebam, grata et con- 
u cenna brevitate contemplandam proponit. Eadem igi- 
" tur opera quo3 docentes copiose interpretari discentes 
" mediocri labore memorise mandari possunt suppeditavit." 
This epitome of Miller, improved in a second edition, has been 
from the 5th to the 16th century very faithfully translated. 
The age before Constantine is principally drawn from the 
works of the earliest writers, and in almost every instance I 
have derived the facts from the original language in which 
they wrote. Sometimes indeed I have quoted at second 
hand ; but if I am not mistaken, always with an accompany- 
ing acknowledgment of the obligation. To the Commentary 
of Dr. Mosheim (which I twice read with a view to the com- 
pilation of this work) I am largely indebted, but the views 
which I conscientiously entertain of the christian ministry 
necessariiy made me look elsewhere, w r hen speaking on that 
subject. The direction in which I naturally turned my eyes 
was to the writings of the Fathers, as to the only authentic 
record of facts on which we can rely; and if no other benefit 
has resulted from their perusal, I have at least been con- 
firmed in my sentiments of the exclusive validity of ordi- 
nances episcopally derived, of the perpetual succession of the 
ministry in three orders, and of the ordinary necessity of 
communion with the catholic church to be in a safe way of 
salvation. On the discussion of points like these, the brevity 
of a compend would not permit me to enter ; but I have 
given what I thought a correct view of the doctrine, worship, 
and discipline of the first ages. " But the reader will bear 
in mind the distinction which subsists between the ministry 
and government of the church. The former in its three or- 
ders at a very early period assumed the names of Bishops, 



fcERFACE. V 

Priests and Deacons. For the exercise of its powers a 
divine commission is essential ; and this is conveyed through 
the first order as the successors in this respect of the 
Apostles. This original designation of the ministry into 
three orders with their appropriate powers, is necessarily 
unchangeable. The government of the church, or the mode 
by which ecclesiastical power in its legislative judicial, and 
executive departments is exercised, is of human arrange- 
ment, and may therefore vary according to times and cir- 
cumstances, provided the ministry in its original episcopal 
characteristics be preserved. Thus for example, the episco- 
pacy of the primitive church, of the church of England, of 
other episcopal churches, and of the Prot. Ep. church in 
America, is the same ; while the mode of government has 
been and is various in all."* After the first ages, I found it 
impossible to give the references at full length, of the nume- 
rous authors to which I must do myself the justice of say- 
ing that I have referred, especially in the history of the 
church of England. In consequence also of a miscalcula- 
tion of th' j printer, I have been obliged to omit even the 
mention of the names of the principal authorities, which I 
originally intended to affix to every section. No student of 
theology will look on the present work as any thing more 
than a means of introducing him to Ecclesiastical History, 
or of refreshing his memory ; and since Mosheim's is likely 
to be for some years the text book in our Seminaries, I have 
preserved his order throughout so far as not to incon- 
venience the reader of his work and my compend. This 
plan has compelled me to class the church of England and 
others holding the apostolical institution of episcopacy. 



* The experienced churchman will discern in this paragraph the energetic* 
clear, and sound sentiments of Bishop Hobart, tvho obligingly furnished it a* 
my request, 



VI PREFACE. 

under the title of Reformed Church. For the history of 
this church on the continent of Europe, and of the Lutheran 
church during the 18th century, I must confess my obliga- 
tions to Jablonski, or his continuator, whose volume is high- 
ly recommended by Bishop Watson, and which I have 
taken some pains in translating from the Latin. With these 
acknowledgments of my debt for the middle ages to the 
work of Miller above-mentioned, to the supplement of 
Jablonski's history for the continental churches of Europe 
during the 18th century, and to the Rev. D>. Abercrombie 
of Philadelphia for a sketch of the Swedenborgians, I can 
acquit myself of having borrowed a single page of English 
matter. Of the manner in which the work is executed the 
public must alone be judge. My brethren of the clergy 
will not, I hope, look with an unfavorable eye upon an un- 
dertaking of the kind, in which I have sei forth the principles 
of the church as far as authority would support me ; and I 
hope there may that be found in my little volume which 
shall obtain some regard from the students of divinity, 
especially from those in my Alma Mater, the Theological 
Seminary in N^w-York. For their sakes I have added a 
list of all the councils to that of Trent, principally taken from 
Harduin and Petavius.* To them and to the laity whose 
avocations may prevent them from reading more volumin- 
ous productions, I dedicate this second offspring of my 
pen. 



* The dates of Petavius are followed throughout. 



RECOMMENDATIONS. 



From the Rt. Rev. John Henry Hobart, Bishop of the Protestant 
Episcopal Church in the State of New-York. 

Judging from the parts af his work which the Rev Mr. Mason 
has submitted to my inspection, I am of opinion that it will be a 
useful compend of ecclesiastical history. 

JOHN HENRY HOBART. 

New-York, Jan. 10, 1828. 

From the Rt. Rev. T. C. Brownell, D. D. L. L. D. Bishop df 
(he Protestant Episcopal Church in the State of Connecticut. 

Hartford, Jan. 16th, 1828. 
Rev. and Dear Sir, — I have read with pleasure the first 
sheets of your proposed volume, and think they afford the 
promise of an useful book. It is not a little extraordinary that 
amidst the mass of Ecclesiastical History there is no single work 
which meets the present wants of the Church. Yours, I trust, 
will prove a valuable acquisition to a numerous class of readers 
who have no leisure for extensive research, and may serve as 
a useful compend to the theological student, while it will direct 
his attention to more copious sources of information. 
Very truly, 

Your friend and brother, 

THOS. C. BROWNELL. 
Rev. H. M. Mason. 



From the Rev. Benjamin T. Underdonk, D. D. Professor of 
the Nature, Ministry and Polity of the Church, in the Gen. 
Theological Seminary of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the 
United States. 

New-York, Jan. 9, 1828. 

Having been made acquainted with the plan of the Rev. 
Henry M. Mason's compend of Ecclesiastical History ; having 
perused a portion of it ; and from an acquaintance with the 
author, entertaining a conviction of his competency for the work 
which he has undertaken ; it gives me much pleasure to state 



Vlll RECOMMENDATIONS. 

my belief that the volume will be a valuable acquisition to that 
department of sacred literature, as furnishing to readers gene- 
rally an interesting and faithful digest of it ; and to the theolo- 
gical student a useful manuel for a review of the subject. 

BENJ. T. ONDERDONK. 

From the Rev. Samuel H. Turner, Prof, of Bib. Crit. and hit. 
of Scrip, in the Gen. Theol. Seminary of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church in the United States. 

Theological Seminary, Sept 26th, 1827. 
Rev and Dear Sir, — I have read with pleasure a part of the 
early period of the Church contained in your compend of Ec- 
clesiastical History, and hope that your work will meet with ex- 
tensive circulation. From what I have examined, I should 
think that the volume would be exceedingly useful, not to super- 
cede larger histories of established character, but as a substitute 
for such among that extensive class of society whose reading is 
necessarily limited from their occupations and circumstances, 
and as a digest to assist the student of Ecclesiastical History in 
re-calling to his memory knowledge formerly acquired. Your 
work appears to be composed with much care, and an attentive 
reader will derive from it much benefit. 
I remain, 

Rev. and dear Sir, with much regard, 

Your friend and brother, 

SAMUEL H. TURNER. 
Rev. Henry 3V1. Mason, M. A. 



From the Rev. Dr. Abercrombie, D. D. Assistant Minister of 
Christ's Church, St. Peter and St. James, Philadelphia. 

Rev. and Dear Sir, — Having attentively examined your 
Compend of Ecclesiastical History, I cheerfully offer my unquali- 
fied approbation of the work. The correct chronological ar- 
rangement and condensation of events recorded, must render it 
peculiarly useful as an elementary book to the Theological Stri- 
dent, and a valuable book of reference to the accomplished 
Scholar, and to the well read Divine 

That its circulation may prove commensurate to its merit Is 
the sincere and ardent wish of 

Rev. and Dear Sir, 

Your Friend and Brother, 

JA'S ABERCROMBIE. 
Philadelphia, Nov. 12, 1827. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Definition, 

\i. Ecclesiastical, History is a faithful and per- 
spicuous account of the Church, or that Society which 
was instituted by Christ. It includes alike the narra- 
tive of those transactions which concern the Church 
from abroad, as of those which have been carried on 
within its limits. In this history events are so connect- 
ed with their causes, that men may be able to recog- 
nize the providence of God, in constituting such a so- 
ciety, and may grow in piety no less than in wisdom. 

The aids for investigating the secret causes of Events, 

§2. He who would treat of Ecclesiastical history 
in such a manner as to render it useful, ought to con- 
uect events with their causes. But he who would ex- 
plore those causes generally, besides the testimony of 
authors and the history of the times, should be well ac- 
quainted with human nature, and the manners and opin- 
ions of those men concerning whom he treats. But 
especially in the external history, not only the civil, but 
also the religious state of public affairs must be attended 
to : while with respect to the internal ', nothing will be 
more important than an acquaintance with the history 
1 



O INTRODUCTION. 

of learning, and particularly of philosophy. A know 
ledge of these must be drawn from the writers of every 
age, especially those who were contemporary with the 
events they describe. Those historians however are 
not to be neglected, who have composed out of such 
original works, histories and annals. From hence it 
appears, that many are the requisites for writing a good 
and faithful history of the Church. 

The advantages derivable from Ecclesiastical History, 

§3. Ecclesiastical History may be productive of 
numerous advantages. To contemplate the many and 
bitter trials which the religion of our Redeemer has hap- 
pily overcome, will naturally tend to confirm our faith 
and inflame our piety, by the illustrious examples with 
which we constantly meet. The wonderful changes 
which are found to occur, demonstrate at once the pro- 
vidence of God, and the inconstant character of human 
affairs. To be acquainted with the origin of error and 
superstition will be no inconsiderable safeguard of 
truth ; while those who are appointed to watch over 
the safety, and are ministers of the church, cannot oth- 
erwise than derive both prudence and skill in the man- 
agement of its concerns, by examining the history of 
its ancient teachers and guides. 

Method of treating Ecclesiastical History. 

■ 

§4. The history of the Church may properly be 
divided into four great periods of time. The first of 
which embraces those events that occurred from it.s 
commencement to the time of Constantinc the great* 



INTRODUCTION. 



The second from Conslantine the great to the reign 
of Charlemagne. 

The third extends itself from Charlemagne to the 
Reformation. 

The fourth comprehends the whole space of time 
from the Reformation to the present day. 

The centuries included in these periods may well be 
distinguished into 

A leaning to Jewish rites. 
A leaning to Pagan Philosophy. 
Severity in punishing error. 
Inquisitiveness as to our Saviour's 

Divine Nature. 
Inquisitiveness as to the Union of 

his divine and human soul. 
The same as the former. 
A leaning to Papal power. 
A contest respecting Image woi j 
ship. 



I. The Apostolic 

II. The Gnostic 
III. The Novatian 

IV. The Arian 

V. The Nestorian 

VI. TheEutychian 

VII. The Monothelite 

VIII. The Iconoclastic 



IX. The Photian 

X. The Obscure 

XI. The Heldebrandian 
XII.The Waldensian 
XIII. The Scholastic 
X\V. The Wicklifean 

XV. The Synodal 

XVI. The Reformed 

XVII. The Fanatic and 
Spiritual 



Barbarous. 

The reign of the Clergy. 

Monkish and Scholastic. 

Enthusiastic and Superstitious 

Rapacity among the Clergy, 

Schismatic. 

A laxity in doctrine. 

A licence assumed by Heretic's. 



BOOK I. 



FKOJJ THE COMMENCEMENT 



OF 



CHRISTIANITY, 



TO TJIE AGE OP 



gO&STASTTXNE THE GREAT. 



CENTURY FIRST. 

CHAPTER I. 

THE STATE OF THE WORLD AND OF JUDEA WHBN 
CHRIST WAS BORN. 

§1. The Roman Empire. 
When Octavius Augustus, by the overthrow of his 
rival Anthony, had become master of the Roman world. 
its provinces were placed under various officers, com- 
missioned sometimes by the Senate, and sometimes by 
the Emperor. The Romans were at this time masters 
of the fairest portions of the earth, and the most civil- 
ized of mankind. An universal peace prevailed. To 
every people was allowed the privilege of exercising 
their own religious rites. These, with the exception 
of such as were peculiar to the Jews, were discordant 
in the extreme. In one point however, of religion, the 
Gentiles seem all to have agreed : that there existed a 
numerous assemblage of Deities, differing in sex, in 
offices, in nature, and in power, who presided accord- 
ing to their distinct and separate ranks over the earth 
and its concerns ; and whom it was the duty of man- 
kind to appease by ceremonies, by victims, and by 
prayers. Their worship was either public, such as was 
common to all the people, and performed openly in their 
temples : or secret, such as was confined to a few only 



CENTURY FIRST. II 

of the more learned, to which none but the initiated 
were allowed access, and which, from this circumstance 
and the profound silence observed respecting it, was 
denominated the Mysteries. The testimony of Pagan 
writers, of Poets and Historians, affords the amplest 
evidence that the grossest idolatry, and the utmost 
licentiousness of morals and practice prevailed among 
the nations, at the time when our Saviour appeared in 
the world. Occasionally indeed, there arose enlight- 
ened sages, such as Plato and Socrates, who saw, and 
would have checked, the absurd superstitions of the pre- 
vailing religion; but who, equally deficient in the clearness 
of their own views, and in influence among the people, 
were unable to effect any great or important change. 

When too we contemplate the condition of even 
the most distinguished of the Philosophic sects, the 
entire absence of piety among the Epicureans and 
Academics, and the large portion of folly and of false- 
hood to be found among the Aristotelians, the Sjgoics, 
and the Platonists, we discern, with the utmost clear- 
ness, how greatly the human race stood in need of that 
Divine Instructor whose coming into the world changed 
its moral condition, and brought life and immortality to 
life. 

§2. General State, of the Jews. 

Judea had been reduced by Pompey the Great to the 
rank of a tributary province of the Roman republic. 
It was not, however, till after the death of Herod the 
Great, and in consequence of the crimes and folly of 
his son Archelaus, that subjected to the power of regu- 
lar governors appointed b} r the Romans and called pror 



l2 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

Curators, the Jews were considered in the light of a 
conquered people, permitted, indeed, to exercise their 
own customs, and in a certain degree their laws, but de- 
prived of the power of life and death, and odious alike 
on account of the peculiarities of their religion and 
manners, as despised for their weakness, and suspected 
by their masters of doubtful fidelity. The sceptre 
was to depart from Judah on the coming of Christ 5 
and the decree of Augustus at the birth of the Sa- 
viour that Judea should be taxed, and the levying of 
the tax about eleven years after, under the presidency 
of Quirinius, sufficiently demonstrated the truth of the 
prophecy. But the policy of the Romans, as concerned" 
religious matters, was extended to the Jews ; and they 
were suffered to practice their own rites and worship. 
These rites and this worship had become greatly cor- 
rupt. The whole of this people had been infected by 
errors of the worst and most pernicious kind ; antt 
evenffceir teachers disputed on subjects of the utmost 
importance and most fundamental nature. They all 
looked for a redeemer ; not such as God had promised, 
but a conqueror, and the asserter of their temporal 
rights and national independence. They all entertain- 
ed the notion that the height of religion consisted in a 
punctual observance of the rites prescribed by Moses, 
and in certain external duties towards their countrymen. 
They all excluded from salvation the rest of mai*- 
kind ; and thus, on all occasions, manifested towards 
ihem hostility and hatred. To these fruitful sources 
of vice, were added various ridiculous and supersti- 
tious opinions, concerning the nature of God, concern- 



CENTURY FIRST. lo 

Lag Genii and Magic, and subjects of a like nature ; 
which they had brought with them in part from the 
Babylonish captivity, and in part had acquired from 
their neighbors the Egyptians, Syrians, and Arabs. 

Of the Jewish Sects. 

§3. Though all the Jewish nation appear to have 
agreed in the acknowledgement of one God and a per- 
fect reverence for the law of Moses, they were divided in 
sentiment on points of the greatest moment. Hence arose 
different sects at war with each other ; the principal of 
which were distinguished by the names of Pharisees , 
Sadducees, and Essenes. The Pharisees were remark- 
able for their ostentatious display and real want of piety, 
together with an unbounded zeal for adding to their 
numbers. Their origin may be traced to the time of 
the Maccabees. They believed in the doctrine of a 
future state and immortality. Some of them, as is pro- 
bable from the reference which St. Paul makes of his 
opinion to that of this sect, among whom he was born, 
'Acts xxiii. 8.) owned a separate state and existence in 
another world ; others, as appear from the testimony of 
Josephus, and the question put to our Saviour, whether a 
certain man for his nwn or parent's sins was born blind, held 
the Pythagorean metempsychosis or transmigration of 
the soul into another body after death. They referred 
all things to the will of God and to fate ; but inconsistent- 
ly at the same time maintained the freedom of the will. 
They also believed in the existence and superintend- 
ence of spiritual beings. But their distinguishing char- 
acter was a zeal for traditions. They attributed to the 



11 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

Scriptures one sense which related only to the words, 
and another which regarded the intimate nature of the 
things expressed. Pride, arrogance, and avarice, 
marked their moral condition ; and hence the severe 
and frequent reprehension they received from our Sa- 
viour. But outward sanctity is a cloak which often 
hides the want of real piety ; and such was the venera- 
tion in which they were held, that they sat at the helm 
and gave what direction they pleased to public affairs. 

The sect of the Sadducees was almost wholly con- 
fined to the wealthy and great. In proportion to the 
favor in which they were held by God, men, according 
to them, were prosperous or otherwise in this world. 
They acknowledged no hereafter ; rejected not only un- 
written traditions, but also the written word, except the 
five books of Moses ; asserted the perfect freedom of 
the will, either to do good or evil ; and were, in fact, 
upon this point, among the Jews, what the Pelagians 
afterwards were among the Christians. 

From both the other sects, the Essenes differed in 
doctrine as to most particulars, but especially in prac* 
tice. They believed with the Pharisees in Angels and 
a resurrection ; but held, in the strictest manner to an 
inevitable fate. Under the letter of the law they be- 
lieved a hidden sense was contained, and to thP tradi- 
tion of the elders they paid with the Pharisees a rever- 
ential obedience. They are usually distinguished into 
practical, who lived in society, sometimes were mar- 
ried, and applied themselves to husbandry and innocent 
occupations; or contemplative Essenes, who devoted 
themselves to solitude, abstained entirely from mai> 



CENTURY FIRST. 1$ 

viage and addicted themselves to the study and practice 
of medicine, whence they derived the name Thera- 
peutae. Both were abstemious, exemplary in morals, 
averse to profane swearing, and exceedingly rigid iri 
observing the Sabbath. Either from their harmless or 
eremitic life, they seem to have escaped the censure of 
our Lord. 

Beside the sects which have been named there were 
others among the Jews ; as the Herodians, who are 
rather however a political faction attached to the pei> 
son and power of Herod ; and the Galileans or Gaul6- 
nites, who rose under Judas of Galilee, refusing to pay 
the tax to the Romans, and who make so conspicuous a 
figure in the annals of Josephus under the title of 
Zealots. To these we may add the sect of the Samari- 
tans, with whom the Jews waged so fierce a religious 
war. Their name is derived from the country they 
inhabited ; and their origin principally from the Israel- 
ites, who were the ancient inhabitants of the land, and 
some colonies which Asserhaddon had settled in that 
region ; which colonies were afterwards by Manasseh the 
high priest of the Jews, under the auspices of his son- 
in-law Sanballat, the president of Samaria, converted 
to a belief in the law of Moses. Some of them still 
exist, especially in Egypt. They reject all tradition*, 
use only the Pentateuch, and firmly maintain that God 
should be worshipped, not in Mount Zion, but on the 
Mount Gerazim. They still expect Messiah, but as 
may reasonably be gathered from the expression of 
Christ to the Samaritan woman, " salvation is of the 
Jews" believe that he must spring from the race of 
Samaritans. 



;(3 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

From these errors and differences among the wiser 
part of the Jews, there could not but result great cor- 
ruption among the people ; which was increased in part 
by the false notions introduced by the Chaldeans and 
Greeks, and in part by those of other nations, among 
whom they were dispersed, particularly the Romans. 
The fountain of innumerable errors also was their pre- 
posterous attachment to the Oriental Philosophy ; 
whence came their Caballa. With all this, however, 
some relics of good still remained. Great was their 
/,eal to maintain the law of Moses. Nor can it be 
doubted that the Synagogues and Schools built in every 
province where they settled, contributed to preserve 
inviolate the law, and in some degree, to stop the pro- 
gress of vice ; as did also that external form of wor- 
shipping God established by Moses, w r hich was less 
vitiated than the other parts of religion, though into it 
many foreign rites are supposed to have gradually crept. 
There was hardly a province throughout the Roman 
Empire where Jews might not be found ; and this in 
no small degree contributed, under the providence of 
God, to shame the superstition of the Gentiles and pre- 
pare the way for the Christian faith. In these foreign 
lands they were guarded indeed by the tolerance of the 
Roman laws ; but, they lived with those around them 
in constant hostility, despised for their weakness, and 
hated for their singularity in manners and religion. 



CENTURY FIRST, 17 

CHAPTER II. 

CONCERNING THE LIFE AND ACTIONS OF OUR SAVIOUR. 

Towards the close of the reign of Herod the Great, 
in the }'ear of Rome 748, and at the close of September, 
as the learned assert, the Son of God and Saviour of 
mankind descended upon earth. Of his earlier years 
we know but little, and nothing further with any cer- 
tainty, than what is related in the inspired word of 
God. Writings have indeed appeared professing to 
give an account of his infancy, and the minute trans- 
actions of his earliest years ; but, containing as they do 
circumstances insignificant, and often contradictory, 
and rejected by the universal voice of the Church, 
they neither deserve, as they have never obtained any 
credit whatever. 

Agreeably to the voice of prophecy, (Mai. iii. 1,) and 
to prepare the Jews for the coming of the promised 
Messiah, John the Baptist was commissioned by God as 
the forerunner of our Lord. Baptised by this prophet at 
the river Jordan at the age of 30, which was the legal 
period for assuming the priestly office, our Redeemer 
entered upon his mission of mercy. Of the miracles he 
wrought and the sufferings he endured, during the space 
of three years, in attestation of his divine power, and 
for the benefit of mankind, the Evangelists have given 
an ample account, with which it cannot be supposed 
any Christian is not familiar. To propagate his doc- 
trines through the world, and to raise up witnesses of 



18 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

the most undoubted credit to attest the miracles aiuf 
wonders which he wrought, our Saviour chose from the 
lowest class of society twelve apostles^ (answering to 
the number of tribes,) who should always be about his 
person and attendant on his steps. To these he subse- 
quently added seventy other disciples, (answering to 
the number of the Sanhedrim, a great national council) 
whom he sent before him to prepare the hearts of the 
people and to instruct them. Christ, while on earth; 
was a minister of the circumcision. He instructed in 
his own person none but the Jews, nor suffered his dis- 
ciples to go beyond the land of Judea. (Matt. x. 5.) 
It is not however to be doubted, that the fame of his 
miracles extended itself abroad. Writers have indeed 
asserted, and Eusebius for the first, that a king of Edes- 
sa, Abgarus by name, was restored to health by his 
means ; that letters still extant passed between them^ 
and that the archives of that monarch's kingdom bear 
witness to the facts. The history is more than doubt- 
ful, and the letters must be spurious, or else they must 
necessarily have formed a part of Holy Writ. But, 
the visit of the Magi, the reports they must have 
spread, the general expectation of the appearance of such 
a being, the terror of Herod, and the prevalent notion 
ut Judcea potirctur tend to prove the extent of his name 
and actions beyond the limits of the Holy Land. Mul- 
titudes of his countrymen acknowledged him the Son 
of God ; but dreading the consequences of his doc- 
trine, and the loss of their power, the Pharisees and 
rulers resolve on his death. By the treachery of a dis- 
ciple they succeed in their design, and hurrying him 



CENTURY FIRST. 19 

before the high priest and the Sanhedrim, they accuse 
him of treason and hlasphemy against God. Dragged 
from thence before Pilate the Roman Procurator, he 
is charged with sedition, and attempting the kingdom. 
With the reluctant consent of his judge he is condemned 
to death, and having finished the work for which he 
had come, he voluntarily submits to the death of the 
cross, pours forth his atoning blood, and surrenders 
his spotless soul into the hands of his Father. On the 
third day from the crucifixion he rises from the dead, 
affords his disciples an accurate examination for forty 
days of his person, gives them their commission as 
embassadors to mankind, and ascends into heaven* 



CHAPTER III. 

OUTWARD STATE OP THE CHURCH. 

Its Progress. 

§1. On the tenth day after his ascension and agree* 
ably to his promise, our Lord exhibited to his disci- 
ples the first proof of his majesty and power by the 
effusion of the Holy Spirit in the form of fiery tongues. 
The consequences were immediate as they were great. 
The ignorance and mental blindness which appear 
previously to have possessed them are instantly dispel- 
led. No longer are hopes of a temporal Messiah and 
earthly kingdom entertained. From timid and doubt* 



20 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

ful followers they are suddenly converted into bold 
and faithful preachers of their master's name. Animat- 
ed by the conviction that the Divine presence would 
be always with them, possessed of the power of speak- 
ing in different tongues so necessary to their charac- 
acter as evangelists among the nations, and endowed 
with the faculty of working miracles when proper occa- 
sions should call for them, they were no longer the fear- 
ful and heart stricken group who at the seizure of their 
Lord had forsaken him and fled. 

Having chosen by lot, or rather suffrage* a new mem- 
ber, Matthias, in the place of Judas the Apostate, the 
Apostles commenced their work of conversion and 
preaching agreeably to Christ's direction, (Luke xxiv. 
47.) at Jerusalem ; and passing through Samaria and 
all Judea, extended it to the Gentiles. In their la- 
bors they had gained a most noble ally in the person 
of Paul, a man of extensive learning, unbounded zeal, 
and from a bitter enemy miraculously converted into an 
ardent friend. The effects of their zeal, and their 
miraculous gifts were as great as might have been 
expected. They personally preached the gospel to the 
remotest nations. For though the accounts w r hich are 
given by national vanity of their early travels into 
France, England, Spain, Germany, India, Russia, 
and America, may well be doubted, because they can 
not be traced to a higher period than the reign of 
Charlemagne, yet it may not be questioned that before 



* This point admits of discussion, 



CENTURY FIRST. 21 

the death of all the apostles, the gospel had found its 
way into the remotest parts of the Roman Empire. 
Not only the multitude, but men of the greatest learn- 
ing, the highest rank, and strongest prejudices, had 
bowed to the name and offices of the Redeemer. Even 
among those who did not acknowledge him as the Sa- 
viour of mankind, or receive the doctrines of the gospel, 
many were found who venerated his character and 
were wont to preserve the images of himself and his 
disciples as sacred objects in their houses. Nor is the 
account which has come down to us from the most re- 
spectable source, and sanctioned by learned and im- 
partial men of modern times, to be hastily rejected : 
that in consequence of some letters still extant, which 
passed between Pilate and the Emperor Tiberius, it 
was decided by the Roman Senate that Christ should 
be enrolled among the number. of national divinities. 

This rapid extension of the kingdom of Christ must 
necessarily be attributed to other causes than human; 
Without rank, riches, learning, or natural abilities, its- 
first preachers in a few years extended its limits over a 
great part of the civilized as well as savage world. In 
vain has it been urged by sceptical men, that Christian- 
ity might have prospered as well as it has done, if it had 
not been assisted by an influence and power from on 
high. There was it is true among the primitive Chris- 
tians the common use, though not as some have suppos- 
ed the common possession of property. But none 
could be induced on this account to unite themselves to 
the cross : for neither the idle nor the vicious (who 
only could have been actuated by such a motive) were 
2* 



22 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

allowed to remain in the society of Christians. The 
heathen priests and the crowd of idolatrous worshippers 
were addicted indeed to the impurest practices ; but to re- 
ject their odious vices it was not necessary to fly to po- 
verty, to infamy, and contempt, which were originally the 
portion of all who emhraced the name and religion of Je- 
sus. It was not the inflexible severity of the gospel 
against vice, nor the punishment eternal which it pro- 
claimed against sin, nor the pretensions the first Chris- 
tians made to miraculous powers, had they been false, 
which could be the likely means of drawing such men 
as composed the heathen world into the belief and 
practice of Christianity, into the adoption of a religion 
whose every precept condemned their practice, and a 
conformity to whose laws obliged its professors to pluck 
from their bosoms their dearest and most cherished 
opinions and propensities. God only therefore could 
have been its author, as God was at first its only friend. 

The Christians are persecuted by the Jews and 
Gentiles. 

§2. Genuine religion will always find foes. The first 
and principal opponents of the gospel were the coun- 
trymen of our Lord. In their first persecution perish- 
ed the protomartyr Stephen ; in what may be called 
the second, which took place under Herod Agrippa, 
anno 44, James the Greater was put to death ; and in 
the third which was raised by Ananias the high priest, 
anno 62, in the absence of the Roman procurator, per- 
ished James the Just who was called the Less, and who 



CENTURY FIRST. 23 

according to Eusebius was stoned in the act of praying 
for his murderers. Carrying their hatred into what- 
ever region they were settled, the Jews probably excit- 
ed the same spirit among the Gentiles. Of these the 
malice was more terrible, for their power was greater 
than that of the Jews. The only religion to which the 
tolerant spirit of the Roman laws was not extended was 
the Christian. As enemies to the state, and to mankind, 
as Atheists, and as enemies to the priests, and to commerce, 
the disciples of Christ experienced on all sides the bitter- 
est persecutions. Their abhorrence of all the idolatrous 
religions and practices around them, and consequent 
seclusion in a great measure from promiscuous inter- 
course with the rest of mankind, may be justly assigned 
as the principal causes of the enmity entertained and 
exercised against them. Whether for the convenience 
of the decimal number, or with more probability for the 
sake of accommodating the circumstances of the 
Christian church to the prophecy contained in the book 
of Revelations, (xvii. 14,) the earlier historians have 
usually numbered ten persecutions : a number which is 
certainly too large if you count only the greater, and 
two small if you include the less. Nero was the first 
Emperor who enacted laws against the Christians ; 
but his example was followed by many if not most of 
his successors, particularly by Domitian, Marcus An- 
toninus, and Severus ; though it must be confessed that 
not all the Emperors persecuted the church with the 
same views and for the same reasons, nor were all the 
edicts equally unjust. 

Great indeed were the numbers of Christians who 



' [ ECCLESIASTICAL I1IST0ILY. 

Suffered for the sake of their religion. Those who 
were actually tormented and put to death in the cause 
of the Redeemer were styled Martyrs or Witnesses, 
and they who in the face of death and under the penal- 
ties of confiscation confessed Christ before the Roman 
tribunals, were denominated Confessors, Almost in- 
credible were the honors which were paid their per- 
sons while living, and their memories when dead. The 
records of their actions were diligently taken and reve- 
rently preserved. But the persecution of Dioclesian 
destroyed them all ; while those martyrologies which 
were composed in the eighth century and have come 
to our time have gained as they deserved but very little 
credit. The character of Nero was that of a tyrant, 
and the Christians were fitted by their innocence and 
weakness for the exercise of his power. It does nor 
appear that he hated their religion, for of religion he 
had none : but his object was to secure himself from 
popular vengeance by laying on them the crime he had 
himself committed, of setting fire to Rome. This per- 
secution commenced in November, anno 64, but how 
far it extended is a matter of doubt. It lasted till the 
death of the tyrant, anno 68, and probably spread to the 
farthest limits of the Roman Empire. In it we are 
informed by the testimony of most, but not all of the 
ancients, perished Peter and Paul, the former by cruci- 
fixion with his head downwards, and the latter by de- 
capitation, the usual mode of punishment. The cruel- 
tics of Nero which had ceased with his death, were 
renewed by Domitian, a prince little inferior to Nero 
in crime. The terrible resistance made by the Jew,- 



CENTURY FIRS I . 25 

before their city was destroyed by bis brother 
Titus Vespasian, must have roused his indignation 
against that infatuated people. Christians were con- 
sidered as a branch of the Jews, and were persecuted 
accordingly ; and it may be observed that the trials 
and sufferings fell entirely on them. The persecution 
commenced in the year 93 or 94. During its rage many 
eminent Christians suffered the pains of martyrdom. 
Among others were Flavius Clemens, a man of consu- 
lar dignity, with his niece Domitilla, and the aged and 
venerable apostle St. John, who after escaping (says 
Tertullian) from a boiling pot of oil was banished to 
Patmos. The cause of this war by Domitian against 
the Christians is attributed by Eusebius, on the testi- 
mony of Hegesippus, to his fears of losing the empire 
by a descendant and heir of the royal house of David, 
which he was told still existed in the person of a rela- 
tion and disciple of Christ. 



CHAPTER IV. 

CONSTITUTION AND TEACHERS OF THE CHURCHES. 

Of the Ministers of the Churchy and its form of 
Government. 

§1, The Church or kingdom of Christ was evidently 
intended to be a Universal Society ; so that being many 
they might be one body in Christ ani every one mem- 
hersone of another. But to maintain a society, officers 
arc necessary, and this naturally divides the Church 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

into Ministers and People, or Clergy and Laity.* 
The latter included the great body of the Church. To 
them belonged not any power properly ecclesiastical : 
but they gave their voices either in favor, or disappro- 
bation, of those they did or did not wish to be ordained.f 
Each of them bore a part in the support of the Church, 
and their gifts were usually brought into the public as* 
semblies by the name of oblations. Among them 
there existed a perfect equality in religious privileges, 
Which is evidenced alike by their feasts of charity or 
Agapce in which they were all indiscriminately assem- 
bled, as from the appellations of brethren and sisters. 
with which they saluted each other The Clergy were 
those in whom alone was vested ecclesiastical power, 
and the title though afterwards extended to minor offi- 
cers about the Church, originally belonged only to the 
three orders in the Ministry, Bishops, Presbyters 
and Deacons.% These, after being chosen by the 
people, were lawfully ordained by the imposition of 
hands. They presided at the meetings and assemblies 
of the faithful, and executed the offices respectively be- 
longing to them, of Baptism, administration of the 
Lord's Supper, and other rites and ceremonies of the 
Church. § In the earliest ages of the Church their du- 
lies were laborious, and their temporal rewards but small. 
In the age of the Apostles, when extraordinary gifts 



Clem. Rom. Ep. I. ad Cor. n40. Bingham, 1, 6, 5. 
| Cyp. 68. S . Chrys on Priest. 1, 3. 
. Bingham, 1, 5,7. 
, Mosh. do Reb. Chris, p. 144. 



CENTURY FIRST. 

and graces were conferred for the furtherance of the 
gospel, to their ordinary and proper powers as minis- 
ters of the Church, were added divers graces and gifts, 
and the possessors of them are sometimes distinguished 
as Evangelists, Prophets, Pastors, and Teachers. 
(Eph. iv. 7 j 12.) These latter appellations however 
soon declined, as did the extraordinary endowments 
which gave occasion to the names. 

Of Bishops, Presbyters, and Deacons. 

§2. Besides the extraordinary endowments which 
perished at their death, the Apostles of our Lord re- 
ceived by the breathing of the Holy Spirit into them, 
accompanied by the expression, receive ye the Holy 
Ghost, a character which was ministerial, and to be 
continued " always even unto the end of the world ;" 
for the promise of miraculous and other powers was 
afterwards fulfilled on the day of Pentecost. (John xx. 21, 
23, Luke xxiv. 49.) To the Apostles belonged a gen- 
eral superintendence over the Church, and hence their 
appellation of Bishops. Examples of their power as 
ordinary officers of the Church, are to be found in their 
successors Timothy, Titus, and the Angels spoken of 
in Revelations ; for of Matthias the first who was chosen 
to perpetuate their office, nothing more than his elec- 
tion is recorded in the New Testament. To the Bish- 
6ps belonged the sole right of ordaining the inferior 
officers, the Presbyters, and Deacons. From the same 
apostolick order, emanated the power of administering 
the Sacraments, as well as all other powers of an eccle- 



2b ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

siastical kind. They presided in most assemblies." 
had the power of judging and condemning, and of par- 
doning and absolving the condemned from punishment.f 
There was among the Apostles a perfect equality in 
respect to the powers of their order,f though in per- 
sonal merit some would appear superior to the rest. 
Thus James, Peter, and John, are spoken of as pillars.^ 
Each Bishop presided in the limits of his own jurisdic- 
tion, as did James at Jerusalem, when all the Apostles 
met together for the purpose of consultation. || 

Presbyters were the second of the ministerial orders 
in the Church. They appear to have been the same 
with the seventy disciples** appointed by our Lord, of 
whom however no distinct mention is afterwards made 
in scripture. Presbyters or Priests were usually chosen 
out of the order of Deacons H with the consent of the 
people. From their office of overseers of the flock, 
they are frequently styled Bishops, a title which, as 
things are of a more ancient date than words, w T as like 
that of Apostle, of general import till applied to a par- 
ticular office. Presbyters formed a council of advice 
for their Bishop, with him laid their hands on those who 
were ordained to the same office with themselves, and 
as his delegates were allowed to preach and administer 



* Ignat. ad Magnep; n 6. 
t John xx. 23. 
ttal.ii.il. 

$Gall. ii. 9. 

|| Acts xv. 6, 19. 

** Hooker, book V. sec. 

ft I. Tim. iii. 13. 



CENTURY FIRST. 29 

tiie Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper.* 
Deacons, the third order in the ministry, were created 
not by our Lord, but his Apostles. (Acts vi.) Hence 
in their ordination, it was not usual to have any other 
hands than that of the Bishop laid on their head.f 
Their office was to assist the Bishops and Presbyters in 
the service of the Altar,-— to receive the oblations of 
the people and present them to the Priest, agreeably to 
the occasion of their first institution, — to minister to 
the people, though not to consecrate the elements in 
the Eucharist.J — to baptise with the Bishop's leave,§ — 
and also to preach, as we find practiced in the case of 
St. Philip and St. Stephen. || To them also apper- 
tained minor offices of the Church, and indeed they 
were considered in the earliest ages, as attendants on 
the Bishop. Beside these sacred orders in the ministry, 
we read of attendants in the Church called Deaconesses, 
(Rom. xvi. 1,) whose office (to which they were not 
eligible under 60 years of age,) seems to have been to 
assist for decency at the baptism of women, to be a 



* Epiph. Hosr 75, ap. Bingham Orig. Eccles. lib. ii. e. 19, Cyp. Ep. 52, 56. ed • 
Ox. Zoz. lib. 7, c. 17. Eusebius, Epiphanius, and Jerome, agree in making 
Matthias one of the 70 disciples. 

i Constit* Apost. lib. 5, c. 18. 

\ Just. M. Apol. 2 p. 162. Suicerp. 871. 

§ Tertul. de Bap. c. 17, Hieron. dial. con. Lucif. dial. 4, p. 139. 

The opinion of the counc il of Trullo that the Deacons mentioned in Acts 
were only ministers en Tables> is contrary to all antiquity. Ignatius styles 
"hem expressly the ministers of the mysteries of Christ; Ep. ad Tral. n. % and 
Tt is required of them, (Acts vi. 3,) to "be "fall fjf the Holy Ghost and 

3 



30 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

sort of private catechists to the female catechumens*, 
and to visit women in poverty sickness and distress.* 

Of Dioeeses, Ckorepiscopi, Metropolitans, and 
Councils. 

§3. Wherever the Apostles found a civil, they en* 
deavoured to settle an ecclesiastical magistracy, com- 
posed of a presbytery ; over whom was a Bishop called 
the Angel of the Church,! whose jurisdiction extended 
to the region belonging to the city where his chief seat 
was fixed. This jurisdiction was called his Diocese or 
Parish.^ When the charge of this became too bur- 
densome for a single Bishop, he entrusted the care of 
those churches in the country and villages to certain 
deputies, denominated CJiorepiscopi who seemed to 
have had a rank between Presbyters and Bishops.§ 

It was not till after the Apostolic age, that when' 
controversies arose even between Bishops in the 
Church, one among them was chosen umpire, who 



* Bing Or Ec. lib. ii. c. 22, $7, 8, 9. 

tRev. ii. I. 

% Hooker, Ec. Pol. 1 7. sec 8. The endeavor made to confound the modern 
with the ancient Ftgnifica'ion of the -word Parish, in order to limit a Bishop's 
jurisdiction to a single congregation is ably rebuttejrl by Slater in his Original 
Draught, where the word Tlapcfaict. is sfcrown to have originally signified 
9 territory of some extent. See also Suicer in voc. Eurcb 1. 1, c. 1. 1, 2, c. S& 

§ After the best consideration I am able to give the subject, I cannot but 
conclude that Chorepiscopi were onlyPresbyteF? with some enlarged powers.. 
By the council of Antioch (c. 10 p. 566 Con. torn. ii. ed. Par.) tbey were (or- 
Ifidden to ordain a presbyter, or deacon, though permitted to make readers* 
exorcists, and other inferior cMurch officers. Hcoker is of this opinion, 
Blmrham is against it. They are to he distinguished frpm Suffragan Risho.pj?-. 
*ho, in the primitive ages, wer.e the cityBishops of a province-, under a 31V 
troptjl riant 



CE^TTJEY FIRST. 31 

was termed their Primate or Metropolitan, and the 
limits of whose authority generally followed the grand 
civil divisions of the Roman Empire.* The same 
may be said of Councils, the custom of holding which, 
appears to have begun in Greece in the second century, 
•and to have soon spread through the other provinces.! 

Of the Canon of Scripture and the Writings attri- 
buted to the Apostolical age. 

§4. At what time and by whom the books of the 
IX'ew Testament were collected into one body, is a 
point not accurately nor easily to be determined. It 
is enough for us to know, that before the middle of the 
second century ,J the greatest part of these books were 
read in the Churches throughout the world, and care- 
fully distinguished from those spurious productions 
which pretended to give an account of the life and doc- 
trines of our Saviour, or appeared under the name of 
the Apostles themselves. Among the writers of this 
age, next to the Apostles, shines Clemens, Bishop of 
Rome, and fellow laborer with St. Paul, (Phil. iv. 3,) 
to whom have been attributed, Two Epistles to the 
Corinthians written in Greek, one of which, though 



* Cave Ch.Gov. p. 92. 

f The Romanists consider the meeting at Jerusalem (Acts xv.) as a coun- 
cil, and they reckon 19 general ones; the Protestants not more than 8, both 
beginning with that of Nire, A. D. 325. 

X Eusebius positively assures us that the four gospels were collected dur'ffg 
the life of St John ; and there is strong evidence for believing that this Apos- 
tle settled the whole of the Canon. On this subject there is no writersuperror 
rr ) the learned Jones, See his work on the Canon. 



32 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, 

somewhat interpolated , is generally acknowledged a? 
genuine, while the other appears to have been rejected 
by the ancients, though containing nothing repugnant to 
the style or sentiments of Clemens.* The Apostolical 
Constitutions in eight books, the Apostolical Canons 
which consist of seventy-five ecclesiastical laws, and 
the Recognitions of Clemens which would appear to 
be the same, with some minute difference, as the Cle- 
mentina published by Cotelerius, are rejected by the 
learned as attributable to this venerable prelate. To 
Clemens Romanus suceeeds Ignatius, the Bishop of An- 
tioch, and friend of the Apostles. The seven epistlesf 
written on the journey from his episcopal seat to Rome, 
where, by order of Trajan, he was to be exposed in the 
Amphitheatre a prey for wild beasts, are acknowledged 
by most of the learned as genuine. The true text 
however is exhibited only in the shorter edition, from 
the Medicean manuscript. On the Epistle to the Phil- 
lippians ascribed to the venerable Polycarp, Bishop of 
Smyrna, who suffered in the second century, opinions 
are various. The Epistle which passes under the name 
of Barnabas, St. Paul's companion, one part of which 
is a defence of Christianity, and the other upon morals, 
was probably written by a pious though superstitious 
Jewish convert of that name.f The work which is 



*Cotelerii, Pat. Ap. T, 1 p. 33. Mosh.de reb. Chris, p. 157. 

t Viz. to Ephesus, Magnesia upon Mseander, Tralles, Rome, Philadelphia, 
Smyrna, and l J olycarp . 

.vt It should be observed, however, that this Epistle has received the sanction 
Of Vossius, Cave, Du Pin, Wake, Pearson, as belonging to St. Baruabas : 
Laud, Cotelerius, and Spanheim. speak a contrary language. Us marks arc 
of the Apostolic age. 



CENTURY FIRST. 33 

-entitled the Shepherd of Hennas may have been 
written by the person spoken of in the Epistle to the 
Romans, for it is very early mentioned ; but the conjec- 
ture appears to have considerable weight, that it was 
the production of Hermas, a brother of Pius, Bishop of 
Rome, in the second century. * Of these writers called 
the Apostolical Fathers, it may be made a general re- 
mark, that they contain for the most part the most 
pious and admirable sentiments, and are certainly cred- 
ible and indisputable evidence in all matters of fact. 



CHAPTER V. 

TIXE DOGTRINE AND RITES OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

Of Religious Instruction and Discipline. 

§1. Since the law and the rule of whatsoever a 
Christian ought to believe and to do, is contained in 
the revealed word of God, the Old and the New Tes- 
tament, the Apostles and their disciples provided that 
the Sacred Volume might be in the hands of all Chris- 
tians, and be publicly read in the assemblies of the 
faithful,f for their advancement in piety and for their 
edification. The method of interpreting and commu- 
nicating the contents of the Scriptures, was in general 
exceedingly simple, nor did any one at this early period 



* Mupatopi apud. M<S£. de Rebr Chr. p. 1G4 on the authority of a very. 
(5!d fragment. 

Ctmstitaib. 3, c, 22, 

3* 



34 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

find it necessary to collect the principal doctrines of 
the gospel into a formulary ; though it must be confess- 
ed that there were some who imitated the Jewish 
method 5 of drawing forced allegories from the word of 
God. 

There is indeed extant a short summary of the Chris- 
tian faith, known by the name of the Apostles' Creed. 
but evidently not written by the immediate followers of 
our Lord. It is most probably a compilation of different 
articles of faith, made, as Sir Peter King well conjec- 
tures, to encounter different heresies as they rose in the 
Church, and until the fourth century, was not com- 
plete. 

For admission into the Church by Baptism, nothing 
more had been necessary in the earliest times, than an 
acknowledgment of Jesus as our Redeemer, and a 
promise of conforming to the purity of his religion. 
But as soon as Churches began to be regularly formed, 
some previous knowledge and instruction was required. 
Hence arose a distinction between the Faithful and 
the Catechumens. The former, who were baptised 
Christians, had a right to partake of the eucharist, join 
in the prayers of the Church, and listen to discourses 
on the most profound and important mysteries of re- 
ligion.* The latter were composed of those converts to 
Christianity who were not yet baptised, and who, pre- 
viously to being so, were obliged to undergo accord- 
ing to their capacities, a proper degree of instruction, 
during which state they were not permitted to join in 

* Const. Apost. lib. 8. c. 8, 12. Bing. Orig. Ee. lib- 10, c 4. 



CENTURY FIRST. 35 

prayers, and for the most part were restrained from even 
entering the Church. The children of believers were 
undoubtedly instructed from their tenderest years, in 
the precepts of the Christian faith, and in reading the 
Scriptures. Schools were every where established for 
this purpose, from the very earliest times. # These are 
however to be distinguished from those Gymnasia erect- 
ed in the larger cities, where persons of riper years, 
particularly those who were destined for the sacred 
office, were properly instructed and trained. Of this 
kind was the school of St. John at Ephesus, that of 
Polycarp at Smyrna, and that famous catechetical 
school at Alexandria, supposed to have been originally 
founded by St. Mark.f 

All writers on the subject of Christian morals and 
purity, have been warm in commending those of the 
primitive ages ; but it must not be thence supposed that 
the church of Christ was ever entirely free from those 
who dishonored their profession and name. To pre- 
serve the sanctity of the Church, nothing was found 
more effectual, than the power which rested, agreeably 
to the commission of our Saviour, John xx. 23, in its 
ministers, to exclude offenders from its communion, 
either for transgressions of less magnitude from partak- 
ing in the eucharist, or for offences of a greater kind 
from any communication whatever with the faithful. 



* Mos. Ec. Hist, makes this assertion, but produces no authority. Se£ 
however Vales, notes on Euseb. 1. 6, c. 19. 

•Hreneus, I. ii. adv. Hter. c. 22. Ens. Hist. Ec, 1. v. c. 20. apud. Mos. de reb, 
Chris, p. 131, -who considers 2 Tim, ii. "2. as contaJningthe first intimations of 
such a school. 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. I 

In the latter case, the offender was looked upon as a 
heathen, and though upon repentance he might be again 
restored, a repetition of a similar degree of guilt render- 
ed his sentence altogether irreversable.* Composed of 
two different people, the Church was soon disturbed by 
the disputes which arose between them. The first of 
these was occasioned by the supposed obligation to obey 
the laws of Moses, which the Jews affirmed was neces- 
sary in order to obtain salvation. This naturally led to 
a diminishing of the efficacy attributed to the death of 
Christ, and to difficulties respecting the ground of jus- 
tification^ Hence the earnest and frequent endea- 
vors of St. Paul, in almost all his epistles, to eradicate so 
fatal and pernicious an error, as man's dependence on 
any merits but those of Christ's for salvation. 

Of the Christian Assemblies and the Rites there 
performed. 

§2. External forms of worship, doubtless varied in 
a good degree, according to the manners of the differ- 
ent people among whom the gospel was carried. All 
Christians, however, appear to have agreed in observ- 
ing as a time for public worship, the present Christian 
sabbath ;$ and in keeping the days of Christ's resurrec- 
tion from the dead, and the descent of the Holy Spirit,^ 



v Buicer on the word sL<pa>piT/uo; Can, A post, xxvjij. Bingham Or. Fk* 
16, 8. 

t Witsius, Misc. Sac. Ec. xx. 

t The churches composed principally of Jews, observed also Saturday ; as 
dfrl indeed many of the Greek churches even srjlatc as the third century. 

lMo& E> Blst obntra Bingham. Vide Sac. Ec. His. 1. vii . c, 92, 



CEJSTURY first. 3?' 

as great anniversary festivals. To these may be added 
the days on which the martyrs were put to death, the 
observance of which may be attributed to the very ear- 
liest times. The Christian assemblies were wont to 
be held at first in the houses of private individuals \ 
but the inconvenience of transporting the various arti- 
cles required in divine worship, soon occasioned the 
establishment of a regular and public place for the cele- 
bration of the Sacred rites.* In these assemblies, cer- 
tain portions of the Sacred volume were read ; to 
which succeeded a short but energetic discourse to the 
people. Then followed the prayers, which made a 
considerable part of the service which always in- 
cluded the Lord's prayer,t and were repeated by the 
people after the minister who presided.^ To these 
were also added certain hymns, which were sung by 
persons appointed for the purpose, during the cele- 
bration of the Lord's supper and feasts of charity. 
This may be considered as the usual mode of conduct- 
ing public worship ; though doubtless it differed under 
different circumstances. The prayers were succeed- 
ed by oblations of bread, wine, and other things, 
part of which went to the maintenance of the clergy ,§ 
and part to the support of the poor. Of the bread and 
wine presented, sufficient was set apart for the admin- 
istration of the Lord's Supper. When the elements 

* Probably the private hou?e became the property of all the members. Medc 
has proved from various authorities, particularly from Eus. 1 7, c. 30, that ther* 
^ere churches in the first century. 

f Tert.de orat c. 9. 

t See Just. Mart Apol. 2. and Wmg, \. 13, c. 5, Pliny U 10. %. 07. 

! Can. Aposi 3, 4,5. 



38 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

were consecrated with certain prayers by the Bishop, 
to which the people responded Amen, they were dis* 
tributed by the Deacons, and provision was made that 
whatever was left, should be reverently destroyed. This 
sacred rite was followed by sober repasts, denominated 
Agapae or love feasts in which the rich and the pool* 
were mingled together.* The character of these feasts 
cannot well be determined, nor were they abolished 
entirely till after the fourth century, though subject to 
many and serious evils. The administration of baptism 
to childrenf and adults, was also a part of the public 
worship. It was usually performed in places called 
baptistries, separate from the church ; and by immer- 
sion of the whole bodyj in the font. The right of 
baptising was vested in the - Bishop, which however 
he conferred on the Presbyters, Chorepiscopi, and 
Deacons,^ reserving to himself the confirmation of their 
act by prayer, and by laying his hands on the head of 
the person who had received the Sacrament. It was 
customary for those who were dangerously sick, to send 
for the elders of the church, to whom they confessed 
their sins, and were anointed with oil accompanied by 
prayer. This practice, though rarely mentioned, would 
.seem to have been general in the times of the Apostles. 
The same cannot with confidence be affirmed of the 
custom which was afterwards so generally introduced, 
of observing particular seasons as fasts ; but yet it 



■ Hieron iol Cor. xi.20. Bing. Or. Ec. 1.15, c.7 
Wall on Infant Baptism. 
Rom. vi. 4. Chrys. Horn. 40 in 1 Cor. 
: Tertttl- de Bapt. c 17. 



CENTURY FIRST. 3p 

appears that Wednesday and Friday, of every week, 
were very soon distinguished as days of abstinence, and 
the anniversary of the crucifixion in particular was ob- 
served as a period of the utmost humiliation.* 



CHAPTER VI. 

HISTORY OF DIVISIONS AND HERESIES. 

Of the Sects tvhich existed in the age of the Apostles 
and their errors. 

$1. Scarcely had the Church been organized, when 
there arose in her bosom those who were corrupted 
from the simplicity which is in Christ. The most con- 
spicuous features to be found in their character, was an 
eager desire in some, to accommodate the simple and 
pure doctrines of the gospel to the rules of philoso- 
phy, and in others to connect them with the rites and 
customs of the Jews. In the life time of the Apostles 
their progress was checked, but by degrees they acquir-. 
ed both credit and strength. Among them there are 
none who make a more conspicuous figure than the 
Gnostics, who, drawing their tenets from the oriental 
philosophy, blended them in such a manner with the 
principles of the Christian faith, as to leave of the latter 
scarce an original feature. It constituted a distinguish- 
ing and fundamental principle of the oriental sages, 
that the souls of men which were come from God, were 



' flev.ericfge's Vindication of flie Can. 2 vol. eiK aj>. Ffct hei^s, p. i<$* 



40 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

tormented in their bodies by the tyrants and usurper- 
of this sublunary world. Hence were many of them 
induced by the miracles of Christ, to believe that he 
was the messenger sent down to redeem them. This 
opinion entertained, they endeavored to suit the pre- 
cepts and doctrine which the Apostles inculeated, to 
their own preconceived and pernicious opinions. With 
this design in view they naturally became the authors 
of the most extravagant sentiments. The doctrine* 
for example, . of the Gnostics, that the world was 
not created by the Almighty, but by beings of an evil 
or at least imperfect nature, prevented their acknow- 
ledging the divine authority of the books of the Old 
Testament. Utterly averse to Moses, and the religion 
of the Jewish people, they held in veneration the serpent, 
the first author of sin, as they also did many impious and 
profligate persons recorded in sacred writ. Supposing 
that matter was the source of all evil, they regarded the 
body with the utmost abhonence, denied the legality of 
wedlock, and disbelieved the resurrection of our corpcv- 
real frames. Their notions concerning the existence 
of Genii, naturally led them to the practice of magic. 
Most of them denied that Christ had any real body, or 
did really suffer ; while strange as it may seem, from 
the same contempt which all entertained of whatever 
was corporeal, sprung the utmost mortification in some 
and the greatest excesses in others of the sensual ap- 
petites. When asked to produce the source of their 
opinions, some referred to fictitious writings, of Abra- 
ham, Zoroaster, Christ, and his Apostles ; others to an 
innate principle of truth ; others to Theudas, the dfs- 



CENTURY FIRST. 41 

ciple of St. Paul, or Matthias the friend and follower oi 
our Lord ; and others to garbled interpretations of the 
Scriptures. The causes of the great dissentions among 
this numerous sect, is readily found in the circumstance, 
that those who were of Jewish origin would conform 
their philosophic notions to Jewish doctrines, and those 
who were born with a contempt of that people would 
naturally slide into an opposite extreme.* 

Of Dosithcus, Simon Magns, 3Ienander 9 the Nico* 
laitansy and Cerinthus. 

§2. At the head of those who set themselves in op- 
position to the genuine doctrines of the gospel, Dosi- 
theus is usually placed. But this fanatical Samaritan 
may rather be considered as an opposer, than a cor- 
rupter of Christianity, since he denied the divine mission 
of our Lord, and proclaimed himself the Messiah. 
The same observation might be made of Simon Magus. 
The history of this man is obscure, and the opinions 
respecting him various. A Samaritan or Jew by birth, 
he addicted himself to the study of philosophy and 
magic. Rebuked by the Apostles, (Acts viii. 9 — 20,) 
for his impious attempt to purchase the power of work- 
ing miracles as a source of profit, he relinquished the 
faith into which he had been baptized ; and returning to 
his former course of life, endeavored to stop the pro- 
gress of the gospel with all the ability and art of which 



*The allusion to the Gnostics in the epistles of St. Paul, I think is evident i 
Tim. vi. 20, i. 3, 4. Tit. iii. 9. Col. ii. 8, 9. It is said of Dr. Hammond he 
finds the Gnostics every where. 

4 



42 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

he was master. The stories related of his tragical end 
in attempting to fly, and of the statue erected in Rome 
to his memory, are unworthy of credit. Simon* 
was undoubtedly to be ranked among those who not 
only maintained the eternity of matter, but also of 
an evil being who shared the empire of the universe 
with the supreme and beneficent mind. Hence flowed 
his other errors concerning fate, the indifference of hu- 
man actions, the impurity of the human body, the power 
of magic, and other extravagancies. To these may be 
added, as the worst of them all, the belief that in himself 
resided the greatest and most powerful of the ^Eons, that 
another Mon but of the female sex inhabited the person of 
his mistress Helena, and that he descended on earth to 
deliver her and the rest of mankind, from those who had 
formed this material world, from the evil Genii and 
their chief. 

Menander, another heretic of the same class, and a 
Samaritan by birth, exhibited himself to the world as 
the Saviour of mankind. This sect seem to have 
had but a short lived existence ; and Menander himself 
is usually considered as the pupil of Simon Magus. 

Whether the Nicolaitans mentioned in Revelations,! 
are the same with those heretics spoken of by Ireneus, 
Tertullian, and Clemens Alexandrinus, as Gnostics, or 
whether their founder was Nicolas the Deacon,! is dif- 



* Prideaux Con. ii.c. i. sec. 6, has shewn that Justin Martyr mistook the statue 
erected to Simon Sancus, a Sabine deity, for one to Simon Magus. 
t Rev. ii. 6, 14, 15. 
t Acts vi.5. 



CENTURY FIRST. 43 

ficult to be decided. Their practical error consisted 
in making no distinction between ordinary meats, and 
those offered to idols. Of their doctrines* no mention 
is made in Scripture, nor can they be ascertained, un- 
less we suppose with the above mentioned writers, that 
they belonged to the great tribe of Gnostics. Eusebius 
affirms that their existence was short, Tertullian that at 
length they amalgamated with the Cainites. 

Cerinthus, the heresiarch, against whose tenets the 
Apostle St. John is supposed! to have written his gos- 
pel, was by birth a Jew. Having studied philosophy 
at Alexandria, he endeavored to form a new and sin- 
gular system, from the doctrines of Christ, the Gnos- 
tics, and the Jews. From the Gnostics he borrowed 
their Pleroma or fulness, Moris or spirits, their Demi- 
urge or creator of this visible world, and other things 
which might bear a combination with Jewish opinions. 
He taught that the framer of this world who was sove- 
reign of the Jews, was originally a being endowed with 
the greatest virtues, and derived his birth from the Su- 
preme God. By degrees however he fell from his na- 
tive purity. In consequence of this, God determined; 
by Christ, one of the glorious and happy iEons, to de- 
stroy his empire. Assuming the form of a dove ; 
Christ descended into the body of Jesus, a very just 
man, the son of Joseph and Mary. Jesus upon this 



* Mosb. de reb. Chris, p. 196 must err in denying that the Nicolaitans spoken 
of in Revelations were only reproved for errors in practice. See Rev. ii. 15, 
"the doctrine of the Nicolaitans.'* 

t On this subject see Hermes, Introd. vol. p. 334. Mosb. is against tb.1'3 
opinion. 



44 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

set himself resolutely to oppose the God of the Jews ; 
at whose instigation he was crucified by the Hebrew 
chiefs. When Jesus was taken captive, Christ as- 
cended up on high, so that Jesus alone was subjected 
to the pains of an ignominious death. Cerinthus re- 
quired of his followers, to abandon the lawgiver ef the 
Jews, to worship the Supreme Deity, the Father of 
Christ, in conjunction with the Son, and to regulate 
their lives for the most part after the precepts of Christ. 
To those who were obedient, he promised the restora* 
tion of their bodies, and the most exquisite delights for 
a thousand years upon earth with Christ, who shall 
revisit the body of Jesus ; on the completion of which 
period, they were to attain an immortal and happy life 
in the regions above. * 

The Nazarines more properly belong to the suc- 
ceeding century than to this. 



* ft may here be observed, that in describing the heresies of the first three 
centuries, I am principally indebted to Mos. de reb. ub. Chris, and on this subject 
have usually but not always cited his authorities without actual reference — 
such for example as Basnage, Faydit* Tillemont and Beausobre among the 
moderns; and Ireneus, Clemens Alexandricu*, and Epiphanius, of the an* 
eierits. 



CENTURY SECOND. 

CHAPTER I. 

OUTWARD STATE OP THE CHURCH^ 

Its Progress. 

§1, The lenity of most of the Roman Emperors of 
this century, was favorable to the extension of the 
Christian faith ; though it must not be supposed that 
the rage of persecution had slept. On the contrary, there 
were many and very severe laws enacted against them, 
and the magistrates were found in many cases to trans- 
cend the rigor of those edicts. But in the midst of 
these calamities, the hand of God was with them, and 
sometimes wrought an alleviation to their sufferings. 
Odious as the name of Christian appears to have been 
to Trajan through the whole of his life, by the rep- 
resentations of Pliny the younger, he forbade that any 
professing that faith should be sought after for the pur- 
pose of being punished, or that any should be condemn- 
ed without a formal accusation. One of his successors, 
Antoninus Pius, went so far as to enact laws against 
their accusers,* and they were sometimes protected 
against the malice of the priests, and the fury of the 



;Eus. 1. iv. c, 13, 
4* 



46 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

people* Hence, notwithstanding the flagrant instances 
of cruelty and injustice, exercised against them, the 
number of those who made profession of the gospel 
rapidly augmented, and the kingdom of Christ was ex- 
tended to the remotest parts of the Roman Empire. 
Of the immense accession in this century to the faith 
of the gospel, we have the amplest testimony in the 
unexceptionable authority of Justin the Martyr,* Irene- 
us, and Tertullian, but by whom or under what particu- 
lar circumstances each nation was converted, can 
scarcely be ascertained. Pantaenus, who presided 
with credit for some time over the school of Alexan- 
dria, either of his own accord, or by order of his bishop 
Demetrius, conveyed to the Indians the knowledge of 
Christ. It is however supposed that these Indians 
were Jews, inhabitants of Arabia Faelix, previously in- 
structed in the doctrines of the Gospel by the Apostle 
Bartholemew.f From Gaul Christianity seems to have 
passed into Germany, and from thence into Britain.t 



* "There is not a nation, whether Greek or Barbarian, among whom prayers 
and praises are not offered to the Father and Creator of all things in the name 
of a crucified Jesus. *' Justin dial. curr. Tryph. 

t Eus. 1. v. c 10. Hieron. catal. scrip, ec. cap. 36, ap. Mos. de reb. Chris, 
p. 206. 

{Some of the British writers contend for an Apostolick conversion of their 
country; and their opinion is backed by considerable'proof. On the testimony 
of Bede, it has been usually supposed, that when the first Church established 
by the Apostles, or those they commissioned had begun to decline, Lucius, a 
king of Britain, sent to Pope Eleutherus for Christian teachers, and restored the 
declining cause of the Gospel. Dr. Mosheim's opinion (de reb. Chris. 215) 
is not void of probability ; that this Lucius was a Roman officer, who favored 
Christianity, and that the teachers he brought over came from Gaul and not 
from Rome. Among them was an individual named Joseph, and hence the 
supposition thet Joseph of Arimathea was the Apostle of Britain. 



CENTURY SECON0. 47 

Some Greeks who came from Asia, at whose head was 
Pothinus, accompanied by Ireneus, spread the gospel in 
Transalpine Gaul, which is now France, and in a short 
space of time by their piety and zeal, converted such 
numbers, that Churches were established both at 
Lyons and Vienne, of which Pothinus himself became v 
Bishop. 
N The principal human cause, under the influence of 
divine power, of the rapid growth and extent of the 
gospel in this century, is doubtless to be found in the 
circulation of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testa- 
ment, which had now been collected into one volume, 
and translated into the Latin,* the Syrian, Egyptian, and 
Ethiopian languages. To this cause may be added 
the excellent defences of Christianity, which appeared 
under the form of Apologies from many eminent hands ; 
together with the refutations and censures which were 
written to confute the ancient heretics, who by their 
absurd and erroneous opinions had been instrumental 
in deterring many from embracing the faith of Christ. 
The power of working miracles, and the extraordinary 
gifts and graces which belonged peculiarly to the Apos- 
tolick age, had not yet been removed from the Church, 
and contributed, in a great degree, to the conversion of 
the multitudes who flocked to the standard of the 
cross.f ^In the number of miracles, many of the learn- 



* This version usually passes under the name of the Old Italick, to distin- 
guish it from the vulgate or version by St. Jerome. 

t The controversy on this subject is -well known to the learned. Dr. Con- 
yers Middleton, after openly denying that this power existed in the Church, 
subsequently to the age of the Apostles, changed the face of the controversy 



48 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

ed have been wont to consider the extraordinary de- 
liverance experienced by the army of Marcus Antoni- 
nus, anno 174, when in a war with the Marcomamni a 
seasonable shower destroyed the enemy, while it re- 
freshed the fainting Romans,* in consequence of the 
prayers offered up by the Christians in the army, 
who were afterwards from this circumstance called the 
thundering legion. It contributed not a little to the 
external quiet of the Church, that the Jews were no 
longer in a condition to harass it. That infatuated 
people were visited with new calamities; first under 
Trajan, and afterwards in the reign of Adrian, when 
rising in arms under a leader named Barcochebas,f 
who proclaimed himself Messiah, they were put to 
the sword, and every Jew was forbidden to enter tk-e 
new city built on the ruins of Jerusalem, and called ^Elia 
Capitolina. The philosophers and learned men who 



in a posthumous production, by professing that he only intended to deny, that 
any one in the second and third centuries, had the power of working miracles 
when he pleased; a position the learned and orthodox were willing to 
allow. 

* The truth on this subject seems to be, that there was a legion in the 
army of Marcus called the thundering legion, and that many Christians 
were enrolled as soldiers under his standard, who before the engagement put 
up prayers for the Emperor's safety to the throne of grace ; but the fact that a 
legion of that name existed before the age of the Antonines, that the Christians 
were not in sufficient favor to permit so large a body to be engrafted into the 
Roman army, and the impropriety of attributing to a miraculous agency, 
what ia easily accounted for on physical causes, may lead us to suspect the 
opinions of those who consider the occurrence as a miracle, to be highly ques 
tionable. See Witsius' diatribe de fulminatrice legione; and Mos. de reb, 
Chris, p. 251, 

| The impostor took the name of Barcochab, which signifies the son of a star 
in allusion to Balaam's prophecy, " there shall come a star out of Jacob." 



CENTURY SECOND. 4£) 

embraced the faith of Christ, contributed in some de- 
cree by their writings and their talents, to the orna- 
ment and defence of our holy religion ; but it must be 
confessed that the simplicity of the gospel was occa- 
sionally obscured, and in some cases lost sight of, by 
the philosophical dogmas with which it was too often 
commingled by the learned. 

§2. Of the Persecutions against the Christians. 

The commencement of this century was disgraced 
by a sanguinary persecution of the Christians, who, 
either by permission or by the authority of Trajan, 
fell a sacrifice to the rage of a merciless multitude. 
The soothsayers found means of persuading the Em- 
peror, that a violent earthquake which had happened at 
Antioch, was owing to the lenity he exercised towards 
the Christians. Either in consequence of these repre- 
sentations, or the idea he entertained, that all were bad 
citizens who obstinately refused to do sacrifice to the 
Gods, he let loose the terrors of the civil powers 
against them. In this persecution perished Ignatius of 
Antioch, and Simeon son of Cleophas, the venerable 
successor of St. James as Bishop of Jerusalem ; the 
former by wild beasts, to which he was thrown in the 
amphitheatre of Rome, anno 1 1 6, the latter by cruci- 
fixion, with the reluctant consent of his judge, the 
president of Syria. A milder edict than that by which 
they had hitherto suffered, and procured by the favor- 
able representations of Pliny, president of Bythinia, in 
some degree moderated the sufferings of the Chris- 
tians. Nor can these sufferings be said to have in- 



50 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

creased under the reign of Adrian, the immediate suc- 
cessor of Trajan, whose milder edict which had in 
many cases been slighted by an infuriated populace 
was again renewed. This was effected, partly by the 
candid and favorable light in which the subject was 
placed by Selenus Granianus, pro-consul in Asia, where 
the pagan populace had risen in tumult during the 
public games; and partly by the apologies which 
were presented to the Emperor, by Quadratus, and Aris- 
tides, and which were very well calculated to dispel 
his prejudices, and reconcile him to the Christians. But 
it was not from the Romans alone, says Mosheim, 
that the disciples of Christ experienced oppression. 
Refusing to join the standard of Barcochebas, or second 
his rebellion, they experienced from that impostor the 
utmost fury of his malice, whenever they fell into his 
hands. 

Of all the Roman Emperors, Antoninus, surnamed 
Pius, possessed the largest assemblage of virtues ; and 
he appears to have used his power but for the good of 
mankind. By the edict of Adrian, those who accused 
the Christians, were obliged to specify the crime for 
which they were arraigned. The priests, therefore, 
and those who retained an attachment to the national 
worship, fixed on the Christians the charge of Atheism, 
as men who refused to offer adoration to the Gods. 
This calumny was refuted in an apology by Justin 
Martyr, and in consequence of a bloody persecution, 
set on foot by the populace after an earthquake in Asia, 
the Emperor at length issued a positive rescript to the 
common council of that province, in which he con* 



CENTURY SECOND. 51 

Jemned the accusers of the Christians to capital pun- 
ishment, if no crime against the state should be proved 
against them. Not such was the conduct of Marcus 
Aurelius Antoninus, in the year 165, who succeeded to 
the imperial power. He did not indeed revoke tho 
mild laws of his father, but he listened without pre- 
vious examination, to the calumnies of those who ac- 
cused the Christians of customs the most flagitious, 
and practices the most abominable : so that with the 
single exception of Nero, under no prince did the 
Church sustain greater calamities than under Marcus 
Aurelius, who exhibits in his character a remarkable 
proof, how little philosophy, even that of the Stoics, 
avails either to rectify the feelings, or to amend the 
heart. Among those who fell victims to the indis- 
criminate fury of the populace, corrupt witnesses, and 
a too credulous Emperor, were the venerable Poly carp, 
a disciple of St. John, and Bishop of Smyrna, who was 
burnt alive at the stake, and Justin Martyr, the author 
of two apologies for Christianity, and deservedly re- 
nowned for his erudition and piety. But none have 
obtained greater celebrity in the lists of martyrdom, 
than those who suffered, anno 177? for the cause of 
Christ in the Churches of Lyons and Vienne. At the 
head of these was Pothinus, an old man of ninety, then 
Apostle and Bishop. The reign of Commodus, the 
son of Marcus, though inauspicious to the Roman Em- 
pire in other respects, was marked by no additional 
cruelties towards the Christians : but when Septimius 
Severus became master of Rome, the Christians in 
Asia, in Egypt, and other provinces, endured all the 



52 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

horrors of persecution, for a period of more than eight 
years. It was this series of calamities, which, at the 
close of the century, drew forth from Tertullian his able 
apology in defence of the Christian cause. While the 
thunders of the civil arm ? or the blind zeal of the pagan 
priests, were thus levelled against the Church, the arts 
of philosophy, and the sophists, were by no, means 
asleep. Celsus, the epicurean, stands foremost among 
these, for a bitter and malicious invective, which was 
afterwards answered by the celebrated Origen. The 
works of Fronto, the rhetorician, composed, in the 
same spirit at those of Celsus, have perished ; while* 
of Cresceus we know no more, than that his pagan 
zeal was directed but too successfully, in procuring 
the martyrdom of Justin. 



CHAPTER II. 

CONSTITUTION AND TEACHERS OF THE CHURCH. 



§ The form of ecclesiastical polity which subsisted . 
in the former century, became more firmly established, 
as the Church advanced in strength. The clergy and 
people conjointly met together for the purpose of 
choosing a bishop, whenever by martyrdom or other- 
wise a diocese became vacant. The Bishop generally 
presided, and with the assistance of his presbyters took 
care of the general interest of ihe Church. The 
Presbyters themselves were generally ordained in 
presence of the people, that public testimony might nor 



CENTURY SECOND. 53 

be wanting to their character and conduct ; though in 
some cases they were chosen by the people, conjoint- 
ly with the clergy.* To the bishops and presbyters, 
the deacons were subject ; and to these belonged vari- 
ous offices, according as the different exigences of the 
Church required.! Every bishop in his own diocese 
was originally independent of any other, but when it 
became necessary for the general welfare, that some 
unanimity and agreement should be preserved among 
the different parts which composed the great body of 
the Church, the custom of assembling all the Churches 
of a province at stated times was adopted. This prac- 
tice appears to have originated in Greece and Asia, to 
whose inhabitants such confederacies for state purposes 
had been long familiar. Its utility soon occasioned its 
adoption throughout the Christian world. From these 
assemblies, which by the Greeks were called Synods, 
and by the Latins, Councils, laws for the due regula- 
tion of the churches were issued under the name of 
Canons. To the holding of these councils may proba- 
bly be traced the superior dignity which was gradually 
acquired by some bishops over others. The principal 
city of a province would naturally be selected as the 
place of general meeting, and the bishop of that place 



* On this subject there is some diversity of opinion. Slater orig. draught 
p. 142, denies that the word suffrage, "So^/a/**, implies any other power 
in the people, than their testimony, even in choosing Bishops ; but I have 
here followed Bishop Beveridge, except that relying on the pfoof which Bing- 
ham,^ 2, 11, has adduced, 1 think presbyters were sometimes chosen in the 
manner of bishops. 

VOv ystp fifW/UUTW KXl 7TQ7W ilCTl (PtctKOVGt, tt.7J.tL exXAftO'fetC 0S» D?n/g€T# i 

Ign. ad Tvall. according to the emendation of Yossius. 

5 



54 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

be chosen to preside. Hence probably originated the 
name and power of Metropolitans j* whose office was 
to summon the provincial councils, to publish the ca- 
nons, and to see them executed. From these in process 
of time, and in a succeeding age, grew the distinction of 
Patriarchs, with larger power, and a more extended ju- 
risdiction, and subsequently that of Pope^Xo distinguish 
the Bishop of Rome. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH. 

§1. The great articles of the Christian faith had 
been taught in the first ages of the Church, with the 
utmost simplicity ; nor does instruction appear to have 
stretched farther than the doctrines contained in what is 
generally known by the name of the Apostles' creed. 
But as various points began in succeeding periods to be 
discussed, it was thought necessary to be more particu- 
lar, in defining the sense of the Church on the subject 
of that faith which is revealed in the gospel. As long 
as this office remained in the hands of pious and pru- 
dent men, there resulted to the Christian cause, both 
honor and utility. Heretics were confuted, and the 



* Bingham, Orig. Ec. 2, 16, 1, inclines to the opinion that Metropolitans 
originated in this century. Christian Patriarchs are first mentioned by Socra- 
tes and the council of Chalcedon. 

tThe title Pope, or n^cTot, signifying father, was originally given unto all 
Christian priests, but has long been confined by Reman Catholics to the bish- 
op of Rome, as the common parent of all Christians. 



CENTURY SECOND. 20 

orthodox confirmed. But when in order to meet the 
sophistical cavils of the infidel and sceptic, logical and 
nice distinctions of a scholastic nature began to be in- 
troduced, the simple features of the truth as it is in Jesus 
soon became obscured. But that which perhaps con- 
tributed more than any thing else to the corruption of 
gospel simplicity, was the attempt which was made 
by many men of a philosophic cast, to express the arti- 
cles of belief, and scriptural terms, in the language of a 
subtle and refined science, and in some instances to 
conform the plain doctrines of the gospel to the unintel- 
ligible language of rabinic and philosophical niceties. 
An example of this is to be found in the strange conceits 
which were agitated concerning the state of the dead. 
From the notions of Plato, and indeed some of the, Jews, 
concerning future torments, arose the doctrines of pur- 
gatory, or the punishment allotted in a certain obscure 
place, till the second coming of Christ, to all but the 
martyrs, who were supposed to pass immediately to 
heaven without undergoing this state of purgation.* 

The Holy Scriptures were in every Christian's hand. 
They were publicly read in Churches, and were uni- 
versally esteemed as the great rule of faith and morals. 
The commentaries of Pantaenus upon the Scriptures, 
spoken of by Saint Jerome, are lost ; as are those of* 



* See Burnet on Art. xxii. Hermas, Justin Mart, and Ireneus do certainly 
speak of an intermediate state of joy -where the final and moie perfect bless- 
edness of the general resurrection is expected by righteous souls; but neither 
their language nor the prayers for the dead, (Bing. 15.3, 16 ) indicate any 
punishment to be inflicted It may here be remarked that" the descent into 
hell" is supposed by sound divines, to refer to this intermediate state heU' 
alike by Jews and Christians. 



JO ECCLESIASTICAL HISTOKY, 

Clemens the Alexandrian, on the Canonical epistie> ; 
together with his Hypotyposes, in which he is said to 
have explained in a compendious manner almost all 
the sacred books. The harmony of the Evangelists by 
Tatian yet remains ; but an exposition of Revelations 
by Justin Martyr, and of the four gospels by Theophy- 
lus, Bishop of Antioch, with some other writings of this 
age, are irrecoverably gone. This circumstance is lesp 
to be lamented, when we reflect that all the commenta- 
tors of this period, were carried into extravagancies of a 
pernicious tendency, by their attempts to find out a hid- 
den meaning in the scripture, or to warp the doctrines 
of the gospel into an agreement with the precepts of 
philosophy. No regular treatise on systematic theology 
professedly written in this century, has come down to 
our times. The works of a certain Arabian on this 
subject, those of Papias on the sayings of Christ and 
his Apostles, mentioned by Eusebius, and those of 
Molito bishop of Sardis, on faith, creation, the Church, 
and truth, which are attributed to this period, would 
seem from their subject, or the manner in which they 
are mentioned, to be of a different character. Justin 
Martyr and Tertullian, in controversial divinity, drew 
their pens against the Jews. Some defended the Chris- 
tian cause against the pagans, in the form of apologies ; 
among whom may be numbered Athenagoras, Melito. 
Quadratus, Miltiades, Tatian, Justin Martyr, and Aris- 
tides ; while others, such as Justin, Tertullian, Clemens, 
and Theophilus of Antioch, addressed pathetic exhorta- 
tions to the gentiles. Those who shone conspicuous in 
the field against the heretics, were Ireneus, in a book spe- 
cially devoted to the purpose, Clemens in his Sfromaats 



CENTURY SECOND. i) i 

and Tertullian in his prcescriptiones adversus hcsrcticos. 
It is to be regretted however, that few of these writ- 
ings display, in conjunction with the candour and 
probity which they generally exhibit, either the learn- 
ing, or perspicuity, with which the Christian contro- 
versialist must be armed, if he would contend with suc- 
cess against error and infidelity.* In what degree of 
estimation the fathers of this century may be held as 
moral writers has been a subject of dispute. It cannot 
be denied that an error was introduced about this period, 
which tended greatly to impair the genuine excellence 
of that purity which is inculcated in the gospel. It was 
pretended that our Saviour, in laying down precepts for 
the direction of his disciples, had established a double 
rule of sanctity and virtue. One rule was intended for 
those whose dispositions were suited for a commerce 
with mankind, and the other, for those who aspired af- 
ter death to a more exalted degree of happiness. 
Previous indeed to the time when a philosophising 
spirit took possession of the Christians, there were those 
among them, who sought by an abstinence from what- 
ever delights the senses, to devote their minds to the 
contemplation of their maker. But as soon as the 
Egyptian and Platonic philosophy began to be intro- 
duced, this simple mode of life was reduced to a cer- 
tain form. Christians who were desirous of excelling 
in piety, were instructed to separate the soul from the 
body by contemplation, by fasting, mortifications, and 
solitude ; that they might thus be united to God in 



The wi iter who treats the fathers with most seventy is Barbeyrac. 

5# 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

this life and be more readily received into heaven after 
death. Hence sprung the tribe of Mystics, who, ori- 
ginating in Egypt, soon spread themselves over the rest 
of the Christian world. Hence also in a subsequent 
age, arose the numerous orders of Monks, Eremites, 
and Caenobites, who make a figure so conspicuous in the 
annals of the Romish Church.* This was not the only 
evil which resulted from the combination of Christian- 
ity, with the dogmas of oriental and other systems ot 
philosophy. It was a maxim among the Platonists 
and Pythagoreans, and had become such among the 
Jews who dwelt in Egypt, that it was lawful to deceive 
and assert a falsehood, for the sake of advancing either 
piety or truth. This pernicious opinion found its way 
with too much readiness among Christians. Hence 
arose the practice of what is commonly denominated 
pious frauds ; hence the numerous productions which 
were written under fictitious names, such as the Sibyl- 
line verses,f and others, some of which have been 
transmitted even down to the present day. As it was 
not to be supposed that the doctrines of the gospel 



* A careful distinction must be made between the Ascetics of primitive- 
times, and the Monks, who do not make their appearance till toward the 
fourth century, however their notions respecting solitude may have gradually 
gained ground. The first Ascetics were men of active life, who aspired to 
higher flights than ordinary of Christian virtue, and might either be of the la- 
ity, or clergy. Monks, by their first institutior, were to be no more than Jay 
men, and were entirely to separate themselves from intercourse with the 

world. 

t Celsus called the Christians Sibyllists, in consequence of their frequently 

appealing to the famous Sibyl. Orig. con. Cel. 1 • 5. It was in imitation of 
these prophecies that the spurious oracles were forced by unthinking Christian?, 
in the second century. 



century second; 59 

would remain in their original purity, without a per- 
petual miracle operating in their favor, so neither could 
the Church be preserved from contamination, by evil 
and reprobate men. To maintan its purity, however, 
several rules of dicipline were established ; the prin- 
ciple of which consisted in excluding the offender from 
Church privileges, and was called excommunication* 
This punishment was applied principally to the more 
flagrant offences, such as idolatry, murder, and adultery, 
which terms are to be understood in their most full and 
extensive sens e. Those who were guilty of these crimes 
lost in some churches every hope. of pardon, but in* 
others were restored after a long and tedious penance , 
The act itself was originally executed in the most sim- 
ple and impressive manner ; but it soon received an ad- 
dition of numerous circumstances and rites. 



CHAPTER IV. 

CEREMONIES OF THE CHURCH. 

It is not to.be questioned, that many unnecessary 
rites were added in this century to the simplicity of 
Christian worship, the introduction of which was ex- 
tremely offensive to wise and good men. The occasion 
of these changes, may be traced in the first place, to an 
injudicious desire of accommodating the public services, 
to the habits of the Jews and Pagans, long accustomed 



^See chap. V. cent. 1. 



60 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTOBY. 

as they were to the imposing ceremonies of a splendid 
ritual : secondly, to the hope of silencing the calumnies 
which had been directed against the Christians as Athe- 
ists, because they were destitute of altars, of temples, of 
victims, and of priests : thirdly, to the abuse of certain 
Hebrew modes of expression used in the Scriptures, to 
convey an idea of the different parts of the Christian co- 
venant and worship : # fourthly, to the absurd and injuri- 
ous imitation of the mysteries, which were held in the 
highest reverence by the Greek and Eastern sages, as 
well as people :t fifthly, to the adoption of that ancient 
practice familiar among the Egyptians, and almost all the 
eastern nations, of illustrating their doctrines by certain 
images and signs, which conveyed the truth to the mind 
through the medium of the senses :J and lastly, to pre- 
judices and prepossessions, which might be supposed to 
adhere to those, who, from different and opposite reli- 
gions, were converted to the faith of Christ.^ Christians, 
in consequence of the persecutions which every where 



* The term sacrifice, was borrowed from the Jewish carnal sacrifices, ami 
applied by Christians to their prayers and praises; hence perhaps the perver 
^ion in after ages of this its early application, to the eucharist, as a sacrifice of- 
fering. 

f The solemn inauguration of Adrian into the Eleusinian mysteries a* 
Athens, may probably have contributed to the rise and spread of this evil. Mo- 
sheim de reb. Chris, p. 320, conjectures that the word symbol, which was for- 
merly given to professors of the faith, and by which Christians knew cach- 
et her, was derived from the pas an mysteries. 

\ Hence the custom of administering milk and honey to converts, and hence 
(he ceremonies of manumission to signify the liberty of which Christians were 
made partakers. 

| The influence which foreign customs would have on the Church, is found in 
•he oriental practice of worshipping towards the east, which prevails at this day. 



CENTURY SECOND. Gi 

assailed them in this century, were wont to assemble for 
the worship of God in private dwelling houses, in caves, 
and even in cemeteries. Their meetings were held on 
the first day of the week : they generally assembled also 
on the seventh day or Jewish Sabbath, and in most pla- 
ces, on the fourth and sixth. The time of the day was 
regulated according to circumstances, and the exigen- 
cies of the church. Whilst they were met together, 
prayers were offered up ; the Scriptures were read : and 
short discourses were delivered, on the various duties 
of Christians ;* hymns were then sung ; after which, 
succeeded the Lord's Supper and feast of charity, out 
of the oblations of the faithful.! The eucharist was 
consecrated with prayer by the priest or bishop, if he 
were present ; wine mixed with water was used, and 
the bread, which was of a common kind, was broken 
into sufficiently small portions, The communion was 
administered separately, in both kinds, and sent to the 
sick, as well as those who were absent on lawful or un- 
avoidable occasions. Great was the efficacy attributed 
to this rite, as a mean of salvation ; and hence perhaps the 
custom which existed in this age and several succeeding 
ones, of administering the elements to infants. J Baptism 
was administered publicly,upon the festivals of Epiphany, 
Easter, and Pentecost,^ by the bishop, or a presbyter 
acting under his authority. Immersion was the usual mode 



* It may be observed that the discourses to catechumens were of a character 
different from those to baptised and initiated Christians. 

f Mosheim and Bing. 14, 4, 10, 

% On each ©f these points, Bing. 15,2. 3, is very full and particular. 
§ In Pentecost was included the fifty days between Easter and Whitsuntide: 
In the days of the Apostles, one time was held equally fit as another. 



62 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

of practice, in the case both of infants and adults. The 
rite was performed with consecrated water, in the name 
of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ; # after the candi- 
date had made profession of his faith in the words of 
some received creed, had renounced the devil and all 
his works, and avowed his determination to live accord- 
ing to the rules of the Christian religion. After initia- 
tion, the sign of the cross was made, — the recipient* 
were anointed,! — received a small portion of milk and 
honey, — and were immediately confirmed, if the bishop 
was present,| w * tn prayer and the imposition of hands. 
Sponsors were for the most part required, both for in- 
fants and adults ; though their duties and characters dif- 
fered according to the nature of the case.§ 

The principal annual festivals observed in the Church; 
were as yet but two ; one to commemorate the resur- 
rection of our Lord, and the other the descent of the 
Holy Ghost upon the Apostles. The anniversary of 
our Saviour's death, was called the paschal day ; be- 
cause it was supposed he suffered crucifixion on the day 
in which the Jews were accustomed to celebrate their 
passover. in their observation of this paschal day, how- 
ever, the Christians of Asia Minor differed from 
others, and especially the Church of Rome. Both these 
churches, indeed, fasted during the great week in which 
Christ was put to death, and afterward celebrated a 
sacred feast, also denominated the Pasch ; at which 



* Const. Apost. c. 49. 

r Succr in voc. %£ie-jusL. 

1 ; Bing. 12; 11. This unction was distinct from the chrism in confirmation- 



CENTITBY SECOND. 6 3 

they distributed a paschal lamb in comemoration of 
the last Supper.* The Asiatic Christians observed this 
paschal feast on the fourth day of the first Jewish month, 
as the day of the Jewish passover ; and then on the 
third day after, they commemorated the resurrection 
of our Lord from the dead. To this custom they plead- 
ed the authority of St. Philip and St. John. The 
western Churches, on the other hand, put off their pas- 
chal feast to the night preceding the festival of the 
resurrection, and thus connected the commemoration 
of the death of Christ, with that of his rising from the 
grave ; and for this practice they urged the examples of 
St. Peter and St. Paul. The rule of the Asiatics was 
attended with two inconveniences. They interrupted 
the fast of the great week, by observing a festival, and 
were often obliged to celebrate the resurrection of the 
Redeemer, on another than the Lord's day.t Both these 
circumstances were thought objectionable, and gave rise 
to a controversy which was called Quartodeciman. To 
settle this dispute, the venerable Polycarp visited Anice- 
tus, the bishop of Rome ; but neither was willing to re- 
linquish his practice, for which the authority of an apostle 
was respectively urged; though they mutually agreed, 
that the bond of Christian unity should not be broken 
on this account. At the close of the century, Victor, 



* Mosh. Ec. Hist, in which he somewhat differs from the opinions expressed 
in his work, de reb. Chris, p. 435. 

t About the year 147, Pius, bishop of Rome, pretended that bis brother Her- 
mas had been instructed by an angel to keep thepasch on the Lord's day. 

1 On the subject of Infant baptism, no writer has exceeded Wall. On the 
tubject of sponsors, see Ding. 11, 8, 1. 



04 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

the Roman bishop, finding that he could not by hi> 
threats draw over the Asiatics, who found a bold and 
able defender in Polycrates, bishop of Ephesus, under- 
took to cut them off from any communion with his own 
Church. A stop was at length put to the progress of 
these dissentions, by the prudent remonstrances of Ire- 
neus ; so that each party retained their practice till the 
final adjustment of the difficulty at the council of Nice, 



CHAPTER V. 

HISTORY OF DIVISIONS AND HERESIES. 

Dissentions in the Church occasioned by the Jews, 

§1. When Adrian, the Roman Emperor, had razed 
the walls of Jerusalem, and utterly abolished the polity 
of the Jews, the greatest part of the Christians, to avoid 
being confounded with that infatuated people, against 
whom the severest laws had been enacted, entirely aban- 
doned the Mosaic rites and chose Mark for their Bishop, 
a foreigner by nation, and consequently an alien from 
the commonwealth of Israel. Owing to this circum- 
stance, those who still retained an attachment to the 
Mosaic rites separated themselves from their brethren, 
and retiring to Pera continued to maintain their ancient 
habits and practices. These Judaizing Christians again 
divided themselves into two bodies distinguished by the 
names of Nazareaes and Ebionites, the difference be- 



CENTURY SECOND. 65 

tween whom was by no means inconsiderable.* They 
each used a gospel different from ours. The title of 
Nazarene originally belonged to all Christians indiscri- 
minately ; nor after its confinement to a particular sect 
does it appear to have conveyed any strong term of 
reproach ; since the principle error of those to whom it 
was applied, was an undue attachment to the Mosaic 
institutions, incumbered however with no pharasaic 
traditions. The Ebionites, on the other hand, deriving 
their appellation either from the name of their founder, 
the low opinion they entertained of Christ, or their pov- 
erty, entertained tenets of a far more pernicious charac- 
ter. They acknowledged our Saviour to be a messen- 
ger from God, but affirmed that he was a mere man, 
and born in the course of nature of Joseph and Mary. 
They also held in great detestation the memory of St. 
Paul, as the adversary of their law, and together with 
that law paid obedience to all the ceremonies and tradi- 
tions of the Pharisees. 

Of the Asiatic Sects. 

§2. The greatest injury which the Church sus- 
tained, was occasioned by those who attempted to in- 



* On this subject see Hcrsiey's tracts,^let. 3, p. 136, Amer. ed. An emi- 
nent writer, Jeremiah Jones, appears to me to have been treated with injustice 
OH all hands. Dr. Priestly asserted, that this preceptor of Lardner, had shewn 
these people, the Nazarenes and Ebionites to be the same, and Horsley does 
nnt deny it. The words of Jones are these,— ,l that the Nazarenes or Ebionites 
two very early sects among the Christians, had a gospel which they made use 
of, called the gospel according to the Hebrews. Though they were certainly 
two different sects, and (not the same persons as Mr. Toland, according to his 
old way of blunderiDg would have them to be,) yet the difference between 
j heir gospels was not very great." Jones on Canon, vol. 3. p. 139. 

6 



66 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

terpret the doctrines of the gospel, in conformity to the 
precepts of oriental philosophy concerning the origin 
of evil. These sects, wbich had hitherto lain in obscu- 
rity, began to make their appearance under the reign 
of the emperor Adrian. Two of them seem to have 
made a more conspicuous figure than the rest. Of this 
famous division, the one preserved the oriental doctrine 
concerning the origin of the world, unmixed with fo- 
reign notions. The other, which took its rise among 
the Egyptians, combined the philosophy of the east 
with the tenets and prodigies of that superstitious peo- 
ple, and thus rendered it difficult even to their own 
teachers to explain their various and often discordant 
doctrines. 

Among the Asiatic band, Elxai, a Jew, and founder 
in the reign of Trajan, of the sect of the Elcesaites, 
holds a conspicuous place in point of time. He held, 
with the Essenes, that the law of Moses was allegorical, 
and blended it with several of the eastern fables. His 
opinions respecting our Lord are by no means clearly 
known, and indeed Epiphanius expresses his doubts, 
whether he ought to be considered as a Christian or a 
Jew. If the latter be the case, Saturninus of Antioch 
must then claim the most prominent figure. He enter- 
tained the opinion of two principles of all things ; the 
one a wise and benevolent deity ; the other matter, es- 
sentially evil in its nature, over which however presi- 
ded a certain malignant intelligence. This world and 
its inhabitants were created without the knowledge of 
the material principle, by seven angels, presiding over 



CENTURY SECOND. 67 

,iany planets. The good being approved of the work, 
endowed the men who had hitherto possessed only ani- 
mal life, with a rational soul ; and reserving to him- 
self the supreme dominion, subjected the whole world to 
its seven angelic architects, one of whom was the God 
of the Jews. To these human beings thus gifted by 
the benevolent deity, the principle of matter opposed 
others, into whom he had grafted a malignant soul. 
Hence arises the difference among men. The creators of 
the world failing in their allegiance to the Supreme be- 
ing, Christ was sent from heaven, clothed in appearance 
with a body, and for the purpose of shewing to virtuous 
souls the way of returning to God. This way is beset 
with difficulties, and those who wish to keep it, must 
abstain from every thing which can tend to gratify the 
body. 

In the same class of Asiatic philosophizers, must be 
numbered Cerdo the Syrian, and Marcion the son of 
the bishop of Pontus. They held the existence of two 
principles ; one perfectly good, and the other perfectly 
bad ; between these they imagined an intermediate be- 
ing, of a mixed nature, the architect of this lower world, 
and the legislator of the Jew T s. The principle of evil, 
and this latter divinity, wage a perpetual war. The 
idolatrous nations are under the empire of the one, and 
the Jews under that of the other. To terminate this 
contest, and deliver souls of a divine origin, the supreme 
deity commissioned his son Jesus Christ, clothed in the 
shadowy resemblance of a body, as embassador to the 
Jews. This divine messenger, both the principle of 
evil and the lord of the Jews assailed, without being 



68 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

able to injure him. Those who follow the directions 
of this celestial conductor, elevate their minds to the 
contemplation of the Supreme being, and deny them- 
selves all the external comforts of life, shall after death, 
ascend to mansions of felicity. Marcion, the author of 
these austere rules, and the follower in most respects 
of Cerdo, # had numerous disciples, among whom were 
Lucan, Severus, Blastes, and particularly Apelles, who 
modified his doctrines and indeed established new sects. 
Bardesanes, a heretic of the same order, a Syrian of 
Edessa, and eminent for his erudition and learned 
productions, maintained the existence of an evil prin- 
ciple opposed to the Supremo doity. The latter form- 
ed the world entirely free from evil. He also created 
men, compounded of a celestial soul, and a subtil or 
etherial body. When the prince of darkness had en- 
ticed men to sin, God suffered them to be enclosed 
with gross bodies by the author of evil, and that the 
world should be corrupted, in order to punish the apos- 
tate race. Hence the perpetual struggle between rea- 
son and lust, in the soul of man. Jesus, descending 
from heaven, and clothed with an etherial body, in- 
structed mankind in subduing their depraved bodies ? 
and freeing themselves from the dominion of malignant- 
matter by continence and contemplation. They who 
comply with his directions, shall after the death of the 



* Being excommunicated by his father he went to Rome, and there forme* 
an intimacy with Cerdo. Marcion moreover, rejected the law and the proph- 
ets, allowed none of tht: Evangelists but St. Luke, whose gospel he altered in 
many, p 1 aces s andfrom it excluded the two first chapters entire. 



CENTUEY SEC'ONO. 0[) 

body be translated in etherial vehicles or celestial bo- 
dies to the seats of the blessed. Bardesanes himself 
returned to a better mind, but his sect continued for a 
long time in Syria. 

Tatian was born in Assyria. A man oY genius and 
learning, he erred as much in an excessive aresterity 
of life, as in any remarkable errors of doctrine. It is 
asserted however, that he made a distinction between 
the founder of the world, and the Supreme deity, and 
considered matter as the fountain of evil. His follow- 
ers, like those of Bardesanes, used water only in the 
eucharist, and had a horror of all external comforts. 
They were denominated Tatianists, but are as fre- 
quently distinguished by other appellations, as Eucra- 
tites or temperate, Hydroparastites or drinkers of wa- 
ter, Apotactites or renouncers. 

Of the Egyptian Gnostics. 

§3. Those Gnostics, who adopted in part the 
Egyptian philosophy, differed from the Asiatics, prin- 
cipally in these particulars. They maintained, besides 
the existence of a deity, an eternal matter endued with 
motion, but they did not acknowledge the evil principle 
of the Persians. They compounded Christ of two 
persons, of the man Jesus, and the Son of God, Christ. 
To this divine personage they attributed a real body, 
and in their discipline, they were far less rigid than the 
Asiatics. At the head of this class stands Basilicles, 
the Alexandrian. He supposed that the Supreme be- 
ing originally begat seven iEons or spirits from him- 
self. Two of these, whose names were Dunamis* 
6* 



7(T ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

and Sophia, procreated angels of the highest order. 
These angels having constructed for themselves a 
heaven, brought forth other angels of an order little 
inferior to their own. Other generations of angels, 
and formation of heavens followed these, till there ex- 
isted 365 leaders of angels, and as many heavens. 
All these are under the rule of a very powerful Lord, 
called Abraxas, the letters of whose name in greek, 
number 365. The inhabitants of the lowest heaven, 
conceived the design of forming a world, out of the 
confused mass of eternal and malignant matter which 
lay below them, and creating men to people it. God, 
approving of this work, when completed, endowed the 
animal man with a rational soul, and placed him under 
the dominion of the angels. These angelic spirits, 
the founders, and now the governors of the world, cov- 
eted the honors due from men to the divine majesty, 
and endeavored, each, to obtain the mastery oveV: the 
other. The most powerful and turbulent was the 
rujer of the Jews, The Supreme being, at length 
taking pity on the souls of men, sent forth his son, Nus 
or Christ, the chief of the iEons, who, joined in a sub- 
stantial union with the man Jesus, should restore the 
lost knowledge of his father, and put an end to the em- 
pire of the rulers of the world. Upon this, the prince 
of the Jews resolved to effect the destruction of the 
man Jesus, who was accordingly put to death. Against 
the iEon Christ, his efforts were ineffectual. Those 
souls who obey the precepts of the Son of God, ascend 
after death (when their bodies return to the mass of 
corrupt matter) to the mansions of the Father. The 



CENTURY SECOND. 71 

disobedient, on the other hand, migrate successively 
into other bodies. The precepts of Basilides, are said 
by the best judges, not to have been unfavorable to 
morals. His doctrine however, that evil in this life 
happened to none but sinners, gave general offence. 
Hence perhaps it was, that he attributed but little merit 
to martyrdom ; hence also his permission to Christians 
to avoid persecution for the sake of the gospel, by flight 
or dissimulation ; and hence too may have originated 
the immoral lives of many of his disciples.* 

Bat, of all the Gnostic tribe, Carpocrates the Alex- 
andrian, carried his blasphemies to the greatest extent. 
Beside other notions, he taught, that born in the course 
of nature, of Joseph and Mary, our Saviour was in no 
way superior to the rest of mankind, save in dignity of 
mind and fortitude. According to him, there was no 
moral distinction in the actions of men, and the passage 
of heaven was even more open to the bad, than it was 
to the good. If Carpocrates surpassed others in madness, 
Yalentinus an Egptian heretic, had no rival in genius 
and reputation. Defeated in his hope of obtaining the 
episcopal rank, he began to propagate his new form of 
religion at Rome. His eloquence soon collected a train 
of followers, in all parts of the world, who increased 
his fame and promulgated his doctrines. Possessedof a 
powerful and vigorous imagination, he built up a scheme 
more regular, as well as more complex, than the rest of 
the Gnostics. He pursued in general that peculiar and 



*Beausobr-t, Hist. duManiche sme, v. 2, p. 8. Clem. A!. Strom. 1. 6, 3. 
k 511. 



; 2 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

refined S3*stem of philosophy, which resembling in some 
respects the doctrines of Plato, of the Eyptians, and of 
the Jews, is yet in others entirely different and oppo- 
site from them all. He entertained the idea of a certain 
unbounded space, called Pleroma, in which God pro- 
duced thirty natures or JElons of either sex. To 
these he added four which were neither male nor fe- 
male, Horus, Christy the Holy Spirit, and Jesus. 
Beyond the Pleroma was eternal and malignant matter. 
The youngest of the iEons, Sophia, in her ardent de» 
sire to comprehend the nature of God, begat a daugh- 
ter Achamoth who being thrust from Pleroma, fell 
into the ruder mass of matter beneath, and gave it a 
certain arrangement. By the assistance of Jesus, she 
then produced the Demiurge, or creator of all things. 
This being, after separating the subtil or animal mat- 
ter, from the grosser, created out of the former the 
visible heavens, and out of the latter the terraqueous 
globe. He made man out of an equal combination of 
both, to which his mother Achamoth added a celestial 
substance. Partly to preserve man from utter con- 
tamination, and partly to repress the lawless ambition 
of Demiurge, Christ descended from Pleroma, clothed 
with an aerial body, and passing through the body of 
IVIary as water through a conduit. At the waters of 
Jordan, Jesus, with the combined energy of all the 
other .Eons, descended upon Christ, in the form of a 
dove. When the latter was seized, in order to be cru- 
cified, Jesus the ^Eon, took his flight to Pleroma ; while 
the animal separated from the rational soul of Christ 
suffered in its etherial body the punishment of crucifix- 



CENTURY SECOND. Jo 

ion. When all the souls have been freed, by the disci- 
pline of Christ, from corrupt and malignant matter, the 
whole structure of the universe shall be destroyed by 
fire. The disciples of Valentinus were numerous ; 
some of whom modified, and others added to the origi- 
nal opinions of their master. Among these have been 
noted the Ptolemaitans, the Secundians, and Marco- 
sians; each of whom derived their names from their re- 
spective founders. In a summary like this, the minute- 
ness of Ireneus, or Clemens, is out of the question, 
But among the minor sects, who adopted the Gnostic 
jargon and philosophy, may be enumerated the Adam- 
ites, who made profession of imitating the state of 
primaeval innocence ; the Cainites, who held in the 
utmost veneration Cain, Judas, and other the worst 
characters of the Old as well as the New Testament ; 
the Abelites, who entered into matrimony, but sought 
not the procreation of offspring ; and the Sethites who 
looked upon Seth as the same person with Christ, 
The Ophians or Ophites, divided themselves into 
two branches, the Christian and Anti-Christian. 
The former retained the delirious dreams of the Gnos- 
tics, and held in veneration the serpent of paradise, as 
concealing the iEon Christ. The latter appears to 
have been older than the gospel, and to have adhered 
to the ancient superstitions. The sect of the Florin™ 
ians followed the doctrines of Valentinus. 

The evils which arose from these heretical conceits, 
were augmented by the introduction of the Grecian phi- 
losophy into the bosom of the Church. Hence it came 
to pass that Praxeas, a man of learnings and one who 



74 ECCLESIASTICAL IIISTORV. 

had acquired the name of confessor/* by his sufferings 
in the cause of Christ, broached the opinion at Rome, 
that there was no real distinction between the Father. 
Son, and Holy Spirit ; and that the great parent of all 
things, had joined the human nature of Christ to himself, 
and thus endured the death of the cross. His followers 
were called Monarchians and Patripassians. 

Theodotus,t a man of science, but a tanner by trade ; 
and Arteman, are said to have promulgated doctrines 
of a somewhat similar cast. Of the opinious of Hermo- 
genes the painter, as distinct from the other Gnostics, it 
is difficult to form a decision ; nor is his system com- 
pletely explained even by Tertullian, who undertook its 
refutation. The sects which have hitherto occupied 
our attention, bore a somewhat philosophic air. The 
case is otherwise with that which was founded by Mon- 
tanus, by birth a Phrygian, and rather a fanatic, than 
heretical in his notions. He proclaimed himself the 
promised Paraclete, who was to finish the Christian code 
which had been left imperfect by our Saviour. Hence 
he not only ventured to utter predictions, but also pre- 
scribed very austere rules of practice to his followers. 
He refused the Churches' pardon to those who had 
lapsed into grievous sins, and objected alike to all care 
of the body, or cultivation of the mind. These opin- 
ions of Montanus, were looked upon by the body of 



* This title belonged to those, who by professing the name of Christ before 
the heathen tribunals had endangered their lives or fortunes. 

fTheodotus denied the divinity of Christ, allowing him ci • human nature 
divinely procreated. Eus. His. 1. v. c.xxyiii* See also ho sey's Tracts, p. 
24r,«ndMos.Com. p. 431. 



CENTURY SECOND. 



Christians as highly pernicious, but found favor in the 
eyes of many, from the circumstance of their severity, 
and among others with Maximilla, and Priscilla, women 
less remarkable for their virtue than their wealth. But 
of all who joined the ranks or maintained the cause of 
3Iontanus, there is none so conspicuous as Tertullian, 
so celebrated for his learning, his genius, and pious 
though morose and perverted disposition ; a man who 
exhibits in himself a mortifying spectacle, of what little 
avail are the highest talents, and how weak is human 
nature even iiv its best estate. The seat of this heresy 
was Pepusa, a town in Phrygia, and the residence of 
Montanus. The sect continued for a long time to disturb 
the Church, though proscribed by many councils. 



CENTURY THIRD, 

CHAPTER I. 

Outward state of the church. 

Its Progress. 

§1. Though no age is more remarkable than this, for 
the many and bitter persecutions which the Church sus- 
tained, yet upon the other hand her rights and privile- 
ges were multipled more than many are apt to imagine, 
and her limits were greatly enlarged. In many places 
it was permitted the Christians to assemble in edifices 
set apart for public worship, nor was their religion an 
obstacle to their attaining the honors of the state. A 
dispute having arisen between some victuallers and the 
Christians, respecting a spot which was destined to re- 
ligious uses, the emperor Severus decided it in favor 
of the latter. Aurelian, on a public petition of the Chris- 
tians, expelled Paul of Samosata from his episcopal seat. 
Caracalla did no injury to the Christians, and Helioga- 
jbalus treated them with kindness. Alexander Severus 
is said to have gone so far as to render a degree of wor- 
ship to the divine author of our religion. The Gordi- 
ans manifested no enmity to the Church. Gallienus 
issued an edict in its favor, and Aurelian was its friend. 
Z> None however showed more or an equal favor to the 



CENTURY THIRD. ( ( 

Christians, as Julia Mamaea,* the patroness of Origen, 
and mother of Alexander Severus, together with the Phil- 
ips^ both farther and son. This general clemency of 
the emperors, contributed no doubt, to the enlargement 
of the Church; but other causes must be added to this 
as well divine as human. Not a few were induced to 
embrace the gospel of Christ, by the manifest interposi- 
tion of divine providence, through the medium of 
visions and dreams ; while the power which still re- 
mained with the Church of healing the sick and per- 
forming other miracles, powerfully operated on the minds 
ofothers.f ^To these more immediate operations of a 
divine power, may be added, the effects which were 
produced by the versions which were made of the Holy 
Scriptures into various languages, the labors of Origen 
in circulating copies of them abroad, and the enlarged 
charity which was exercised by the Christians even to- 
wards those to whose doctrines and worship they were ut- 
terly averse. Invited by their prince, Origen converted 
a tribe of wandering Arabs to the Christian faith ; and 
the Goths, a warlike people of Mysia and Thrace, ob- 

* This eminent woman being at Antioch, sent for the renowned Origen in or- 
der to obtain the benefit of his instruction; and by her .influence her son was 
rendered favorable to the Christians, It has even been said, and the~iearned 
.Jablonski has endeavored to prove, that this emperor secretly adopted the 
gnostic form of the Christian faith. It is probable that Alexander was a Pla- 
-onist at heart, but conceived that from all religions something good might be 
gathered. 

t Whether these emperors embraced the faith of the gospel, is a subject of 
lispute-. The weight of authority is in favor of the affirmative. Hut if my notes 
are correct, Chrysostom calls the emperors till Con-tantint Exxuvh and 
Nicephorus speaks of Constantineas tv 7rqwT*, The testimony of Eusebius was 
likely to be biassed. 

t brig, co'ii'. Cel. 1. 1. 

7 



78 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

tained by means of missionaries some knowledge of 
Christ. By the zeal and the labors of seven pious in- 
dividuals. Churches were established at Paris, Aries, 
Tours, and other places ; and to this age may be attri- 
buted the foundation in Germany, of the Churches in 
Cologne, Treves, Metz, and other cities, by Eucharius, 
Valerius, Clemens, and their confederates in the sacred 
cause. The Scotch historians claim for this century 
the introduction of the gospel into their country, but 
that claim is not supported by indubitable testimony.* 

Persecutions and their Causes. 

§2. To the former sources of those calamities which 
befel the Christian Church, there were added in this 
century, the charge of practising the diabolical arts of 
magic, and the severe decisions which were pronounced 
by civilians, and particularly by Ulpian the friend of 
Alexander Severus, against the disciples of Christ. Se- 
verus, who was in many respects no enemy to the Chris- 
tians, enacted a lav/, anno 203, by which his subjects 
were prohibited from changing the religion of their an- 
cestors. The natural effects of this law, though it did not 
formally condemn the professors of the faith, afforded 
corrupt magistrates the means of persecuting the poor, 
and of compelling the rich tojpurchase tranquillity, at an 
enormous expense. In consequence of the edict, many 
were put to death in Egypt, and in many parts both of 
Asia and Africa ; among whom the most remarkable 
were Leonidas, Potamiena a virgin. Marcella and particu- 



* Stilling. Ant. Ee. Brit. 



CENTURY THIRD. 79 

hily Perpetua and Felicitas, whose acts and heroic for- 
titude have been transmitted through various historians 
to our times.* The rage of the emperor Maximin a 
Thracian, and raised from the lowest condition to the pur- 
ple, was principally directed against the bishops of the 
Church. The cause of this hatred and bitter persecution, 
is said to have been the popularity which his predeces- 
sor Alexander Severus, whom he had slain, had gained 
among Christians in general, and particularly among 
their spiritual guides. The accession to the impe- 
rial throne of Decius Trajan, a bigoted p-gan, was fatal 
to the external peace and tranquillity cf the Church, 
Every mean was employed by to ture end death, to 
force the followers of the cross to abandon their religion. 
From the year 249, the persecution daily became more 
dreadful. The faith of many was found to yield before 
its terrors. Seduced by the aspect of those lingering 
torments, which were prepared to combat their constan- 
cy, they either submitted to offer sacrifice to the Gods, 
or burn incense to their images. Some purchased certifi- 
cates for the peaceable enjoyment of their religion, and 
others obtained them by criminal concessions. Those 
who offered sacrifice and incense, were denominated 
Sacrijl cat ores and Thurificati, and the others indiscrim- 
inately, however different the terms on which they pro- 
cured their warrants, Libellatici. Those who had 
lapsed in time of persecution, were of consequence cut 
off from communion with the church. In order to avoid 



*;v3ilner's Church Hist. vtf, 1 p. 294. 



SO ECCLESIASTICAL HTSTORY, 

the penanee which was necessary previous to restoration, 
they were wont to procure from the martyrs a species of 
intercession, in the form of letters of reconciliation, 
called libclli pacts. The validity and force of these let- 
ters hecame a suhject of great dispute. Cyprian was 
their chief opposer, and that with final success. A ter- 
rihle pestilence, which afflicted in the reign of Gallus 
and Volusianus, alike the Pagans and Christians, was 
made a new motive for rekindling the waning persecution 
against the latter.* In the year 254, Valerian assumed 
the imperial purple, and for some period of his power, 
shewed clemency to the Christian cause. But in the 
twentieth year of his reign, anno 257, by the persua- 
sions of Macrianus his minister, and a furious zealot ir* 
the cause of pagan idolatry, he changed his line of con- 
duct, and issued two rigorous and sanguinary edicts, by 
which many Christians in the different provinces of the 
empire were cruelly put to death. The most eminent 
of those who suffered at this time, were Sixtus bishop 
of Rome, Laurentius a Roman deacon who was barba- 
rously consumed by a slow fire, and Cyprian the justly 
renowned bishop of Carthage, who was condemned to be 
devoured by wild beasts. The emperor Aurelian at 
the close of his life was meditating a vigorous and formi- 
dable attack upon the Church ; but he was murdered on 
his march to Gaul, and the providence of God averted 
the stroke. 



* The pestilence was said to be owing to the anger of the Gods, because the 
"hristlans refused to sacrifice. 



CENTURY THIRD. 



But the cause of Christianity sustained no less injury 
from the arts of the Platonic philosophers, than from 
ihe edicts which were issued by the masters of the Roman 
world. Highly approving some of the articles of our 
faith, they attempted, after the example of Ammonius 
Saccas,* to effect an amalgamation between the ancient 
superstition and the doctrines of the gospel. At the 
head of these philosophers, is Porphyry, a Tyrian by 
birth, who wrote against the Christians along and labor- 
ed work, which was burnt by order of Constantine. 
The arts which these philosophers made use of, were 
many and perfidious, but none more so, than the attempt 
to draw a comparison between the actions of our Saviour 
and those of the philosophers and sages of antiquity. 
With this view, Archylas, Pythagoras, and Apollonius 
of Tyana, were represented as bearing the strongest 
resemblance to our Lord. Of this we have an exam- 
ple in the fabulous life of Apollonius, written by Philos- 
tratus. These philosophic and deceitful stratagems, 
induced some to desert the faith they had professed, 
others to continue in the worship of their heathen deities, 
and many, among whom was Alexander Severus, to 
frame for themselves an heterogeneous compound of 
paganism and Christianity. The hatred of the Jews 



* This extraordinary man was a Christian by birth, and, at the beginning 
of this century, founded, at Alexandria, the sect of the New Plstenics. Our 
Lord, according to him, came not to abolish the worship of demon?, but to 
purify the ancient religion. His plausible theory gained numerous advo^ 
cates. At its first establishment, it gained approbation from Clemens Alexan- 
drinus and Fantaenus,- and Origen, Longinus, Porphyry, and Julian, the 
apostate, are numbered among the disciples of his schoo'. 

7* 



82* ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

had been shorn of its power, but numerous complaints- 
of their malignity, are still extant among the Christiar 
writers of this period; particularly in the works which 
were written against them by Tertullian and St. Cy- 
prian, 



CHAPTER II. 

CONSTITUTION AND TEACHERS. 

As the church began to acquire stability and numbers- 
the form of her government and mode of worship became 
more accurately defined, and less subjected to the law 
of necessity. The Bishop administered the affairs of 
the Church, with the assistance of his presbyters, who 
acted as a council of advice. In each of the provinces, 
one of the bishops had a degree of superiority over the 
rest. The Metropolitans of Rome, Antioch, and Alex- 
andria,* in particular, from the importance of their sees, 
and their being rulers of Apostolic Churches, acquired 
a decided pre-eminence. The authority of the bishop 
of Rome, appears to have been of great weight, 
and especially in the west. Other bishops, however, 
were not obliged to obey his decrees, as is evidenced 
by the controversy which was maintained by St. Cyprian, 
with Stephen, the Roman bishop, concerning the baptism 
of heretics. It is but too true, that, in this century, inno- 
vations upon the ancient simplicity and usages of the 



■ k This superiorly existed in all probability, before the title of Patria 
rras given.— fling. Or. Ec. 2, 17. 7, 



CENTURY SECOND. 83 

Church, began to gain ground. The pride and luxury 
of the clergy already form the subject of numerous com- 
plaints, though many still continued to exhibit shining 
examples of primitive piety. The bishops began to 
affect a more showy style of living, the presbyters fol- 
lowed the example of the bishops, and the deacons 
soon trod in the steps of the presbyters, and often, in- 
deed, encroached upon their offices and rights.* Hence, 
doubtless, arose the minor orders which were introduced 
as attendants on the services and worship of the church, 
the Sub-deacons, whose office was to act as messengers 
•and attendants on the bishop ; Acolythists, who, in the 
Latin Church acted as modern sextons ; Ostiarii, who 
kept the doors ; Readers, who read the Scriptures in 
that part of the service when catechumens were admit- 
ted ; Copiatce, who took care of, and attended upon 
funerals ; and Exorcists, who being previously known 
in the church, were now held as an order, whose duty 
was the expulsion of the evil spirit from persons possess- 
ed. Marriage was permitted to all the clergy ; but 
those who abstained from it, were in greater favor with 
the people, and generally held in higher estimation. 
Thence arose a shameful custom, which was by no 
means uncommon in this age. Those who were desi- 
rous at the same time to maintain the reputation of 
celibacy, and yet not offer an entire violence to their 
own inclinations, were wont to form connexions with 



* I do not mean to insinuate, tbat where the situation of the church admits 
i', a moderate conformity to the degree of outward grandeur in which Provi- 
dence has placed her is incompatible with purity ; but, during this century, 
♦hat conformity, in many cases, exceeded the just and proper limits, 



34 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

certain women, who had vowed perpetual chastity, and 
were denominated by the Greeks, Suneisaktoi, and by 
the Latins, Subintroducta. This odious practice, the 
rulers of the church strenuously endeavored to suppress, 
but for a long time in vain. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH. 

Its Condition. 

\\1. The principle doctrines of the Christian faith, 
which were once explained to the people in their native 
simplicity, began now to be expounded, in the schools 
and works of those who addicted themselves to philo- 
sophical speculations, in a more intricate and mystical 
manner. It became in a manner fashionable, to adapt 
the doctrines of the gospel to the previovs notions 
which hadbeen caught in philosophical pursuits. Ori- 
gen who was at the head of this speculative tribe, pur- 
sued his investigations with some modesty and caution ; 
but he set an example, in the imitation of which, his 
disciples knew no bounds. Surpassing the line pre- 
scribed by their master, they employed the most licen- 
tious mode of interpreting the sacred volume, in their 
endeavors to compel it to speak the language of phi- 
losophy. This scholastic species of theology became 
differently modified according to the different hands into 
which it fell. But from it proceeded another and 



CENTURY THIRD. 85 

sjrange to say an opposite mode of interpreting the scrip- 
tures, called the mystic. Those who adopted the latter 
method, sought an intimate communion with the deity, 
by abstracting the soul from the contagion of mat- 
ter. They denied that the celestial flame could be 
kindled in the breast by labor and study. On the contra- 
ry they maintained that silence, tranquillity, repose, and 
solitude, were the only means by which the hidden and 
internal light, the emanation from God into the human 
soul, could be excited to produce its latent virtues. The 
notion of the platonic school, that the divine nature 
was diffused throughout all human souls, was supported 
by Origen, and most of his disciples; and hence it 
came to pass, that not a few, for the purpose of eliciting 
its exercise to the utmost perfection, retired to the soli- 
tudes and deserts around them, in order to afflict and 
subdue their bodies. It is agreeable to turn from 
such errors*, to the laudable efforts which were made 
in this century, for extending a knowledge of the 
holy scriptures. Many Christians provided, some by 
their own labors, and others by their wealth, that cor- 
rect editions and translations should be made of the 
sacred volume, and that copies should be distributed at 
a moderate price. Pierius and Hesychius employed 
their labors in correcting copies of the Septuagint, nor 
must the success of Pamphilius in works of this sort be 
by any means forgotten. But of all who bent their 
time and attention to this subject, none have equalled 
the diligence and learning of Origen, who by his cele- 
brated Hezapla, acquired to himself an imperishable 
name. But the encomium of Origen must suffer diminu* 



}0 ECCLESIASTICAL IIIST0KV. 

tion, when in another point of view we contemplate 
his character. Supposing it impossible to vindicate 
every thing contained in the sacred volume, from the 
cavils of its enemies, he adopted a similar mode of 
interpretation to that usual among the Platonists in ex- 
plaining the history of the Gods. In every instance he 
gave preference to the spiritual and mystical over the 
literal interpretation, and reduced this his method to 
the regular form of a science. He divided the spirit- 
ual sense, into the allegorical, which is adapted to the 
Church upon earth, and the anagogical which leads 
the interpreter to the kingdom in heaven. The foot- 
steps of this great and wonderful man were followed 
by many of an illustrious name, particularly by Hip- 
polytus in his commentaries, and perhaps also by Victo- 
rinus. Gregory Thaumaturgus was ardently attached 
to Origen, but appears to have escaped his errors in the 
translation of Ecclesiastes which we have from his 
hand. The book of Genesis and the Songs of Solo- 
mon, were explained by Methodius ; and Ammonius 
composed a Harmony of the Gospels. The doctrinal 
and moral writers of this century were by no means 
inconsiderable. Origen illustrated various parts of 
doctrinal theology in his four books of Elements. 
which may be called the first epitome of scholastic or 
philosophic theolog}-. Something of the same kind 
was attempted by Thcognostus, Gregory Thaumatur- 
gus, Hippolytus, Methodius, and Lucian. Of the 
moral writers of the age, Tertullian, Origen, Metho- 
dius and Dionysius of Alexandria, make the most 
conspicuous figure. In polemic divinity this century 



CENTURY THIRD. S7 

was fruitful. The pagans were attacked, and success- 
fully, by Minutius Felix in his Octavius, by Origen in his 
masterly work against Cehus,md by Arnobius in bis 
seven books against the Gentiles. Cyprian and Hip- 
polytus engaged in the same cause. Against the phi- 
losophers and Jews, not a few pens were drawn. But 
these controversies for the most part were filled with 
evasions, and this method of disputation denominated 
economical was almost universally approved. This 
criminal mode of refuting an adversary became the 
parent of many supposititious or spurious writings. 
Hence originated the Apostolical Canons, the Apos- 
tolick Constitutions, the Clementina, and we may add 
the Recognitions, attributed to Clemens Romanus, to- 
gether with the volumes which the mystics attributed 
to Dionysius the Areopagite their pretended chief. 

Controversies. 

§2. Previously to this period, many Christians had 
entertained the idea, though under various forms, that 
our Saviour would appear upon earth before the de- 
struction of the world, to reign with his saints for a 
thousand years. To strengthen his cause, Montanus, 
with his followers, had endeavored to extend this doc-' 
trine of the millenium ; but it met with warm oppo- 
nents on all sides, and particularly in Origen, with whose 
sentiments it was incompatible, and in Caius, who at- 
tacked it in a work against Cerinthus, Nepos, an Egyp- 
tian, became its strenuous defender, but at length its 
progress was effectually stopped by Dionysius of Alex- 



88 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

andria, a disciple of Origen, in his work concerning the 
divine promises. Provoked as it would seem, by the- 
impudence of the Novatians in re-baptising those who 
came over to their party, Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, 
made it a rule in his diocese, that all heretics who de- 
sired to return to the bosom of the Church, must re- 
ceive the rite of baptism a second time. To this de„ 
cree the African and many of the oriental bishops 
gave their assent. On the other hand, Stephen, the bishop 
of Rome, denied the propriety of a second baptism 
in the case of returning heretics. He launched out 
into bitter invectives against those of a contrary opin- 
ion, but found in St. Cyprian an able and determined 
adversary. The moderation of the African bishops, 
and the death of their antagonist, at length put an 
end to these violent controversies. The disputes con- 
cerning Origen were set in motion by Demetrius of Alex- 
andria. Prevented by his bishop* from rising to the rank 
of presbyter in Alexandria, where he taught the catechet- 
ical school, Origen, in a journey he had taken through 
Achaia, anno 228, had received without the know- 
ledge of Demetrius the name and rank of a presbyter. 
After various changes which took place in the mind of 
his diocesan, Origen was at last degraded by the second 
council assembled on his case, and compelled to retire 
to Caesarea, anno 231. Accused of entertaining 
erroneous doctrines, he found notwithstanding stren- 
uous defenders, who were thence denominated Origen- 



*Jri consequence it is supposed of an action grounded on the text, 'there are 
; ) have made themselves eunuchs for the kirgdom of Heaven." 



CENTURY THIRD. 89 

isis. When it came to be perceived, that the penance 
enjoined upon transgessors, by the church, was insuffi- 
cient to prevent many from offering sacrifice to the 
Gods in times of persecution or danger, the opinion be- 
^an to be entertained and also acted on, that all hope of 
being restored to the communion of the Church, (at least 
before the last moment of their lives,) should be taken 
away from those who had fallen into sins of a deeper 
dye. The more prudent of the Christian bishops ob- 
jected to this measure as too harsh and severe, and 
likely to prove injurious to the cause of the gospel. 
Upon this there arose acrimonious disputes, and espe- 
cially that which was supported by the Novatians. 
Those who had procured the libelli pacis, required to 
be received without any satisfaction for their sins; and 
such was the veneration for the memory of those 
martyrs from whom these certificates were gained, that 
however the bishops in general impugned their authority, 
as injurious to the church, they continued for some 
Time to be the occasion of: strife.* 



CHAPTER III. 

HISTORY OF RITES. 



To the reasons above enumerated why the rites of the 
church were multiplied in this century, may be added 
the general prevalence which the oriental superstition 



* See p. 



90 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

concerning demons, had now obtained ; as also the 
reigning zeal in favor of the platonic philosophy. 
Hence the use of exorcisms, and spells, the frequency of 
fasts, and the aversion to wedlock. It. certainly appears 
to have been an opinion early sanctioned by the church 
or her principal teachers, that marriage between a 
Christian and pagan was inadmissable ; # but the custom 
of avoiding all connexion with those who were not 
as yet baptised, as under the influence of a malignant 
spirit, had its rise in the extension of eastern supersti- 
tions. Both pagan and Christian writers agree, that at this 
time and in most of the provinces, there were certain 
fixed places set apart for public worship, and furnished 
it would seem, with articles designed for ornament as 
well as utility. The discourses to the people began to 
lose their ancient simplicity, and to be composed more 
conformably to the studied rules of Grecian eloquence.f 
In administering the Lord's Supper, the prayers had be- 
come lengthened, and some ceremonies were added to 
increase the reverence for this important rite. Those 
who were in the condition of penitents, and those who 
were unbaptised, were alike prohibited from partaking 
of the eucharist. Prudentius asserts, that gold and sil- 
ver vessels began now to be used in its celebration. The 
time for administration differed in different Churches, 
but in all, it was considered as essential to salvation ; 



i; Bing. Or, Ec. 22, 2, 1. T, Cor. vi. 15. II. Cor. vi. 14. 

| The controversy respecting the use of incense in this century is so equally 
balanced, that nothing can be determined. Eever. Cod. Can. vin. lib. 2, c. 1, 
n. 5. Bing 8, 6, 21. 



CENTURY THIRD. 9 1 

aid hence it was thought proper to administer it to in- 
fants. The sacred feasts which accompanied this Sa- 
crament, followed it in some places, and preceded it in 
others. Baptism was conferred at stated times, twice 
a year, and publicly, to candidates, after a long period 
of probation. None were admitted to be present at 
the rite, but those who had themselves been admitted 
into the Christian covenant. The gift of the Holy 
Spirit was afterwards conferred by the Bishop with the 
imposition of hands. To the former rites which were 
usual at the administration of baptism, that of exorcism* 
was now added, in consequence of the opinion which 
prevailed, that an evil spirit resided in every man. 
The candidates for baptism, after receiving the rite, 
returned to their homes robed in white, to express in- 
nocence, and adorned with a crown, as the symbol of 
victory. A greater efficacy was attributed to fasts than 
at any former period. Prayers were ordinarily offered 
up three times a day, at the third, the sixth, and the ninth 
hour. On occasions of joy and festival days, the 
prayers and thanksgivings were made standing, but on 
days of contrition and fasting, they presented them- 
selves on their knees before the throne of the Most 
High. Forms of prayer were undoubtedly every 
where in use ;t and in all important undertakings a 
Angular efficacy was attributed to the sign of the cross, 
in preventing the influence of diabolical spirits. 



* The power of exorcising was originally a miraculous gift, and when it 
ceased as such in the Church, an order called ex©rcist3 was in this century 
established in imitation. Minucius in Octa^ See Bing. 3, 4, 1 ; and his quo 
iations. 

f Origen, Horn, 11, in Jerem. Bin* 13, 5, 6. 



ECC] r.SIASTICAL HISTORY - 



CHAPTER IV 



THE HISTORY OF HERESIES. 



OfMancSjHieraX) Noetus, Sabellius, Paul of Samo 
sata : and the Cathari. 

While the Christians, in conjunction with Plotinu? 
and the philosophers, were struggling against the error? 
of Adelphius and Aquilinus, disciples of the gnostic 
school, and were at the point of victory, there suddenly 
appeared a new and more formidable adversary of truth, 
in the person of Manes. A philosopher, physician, 
astronomer, painter, and once a respectable presbyter 
of the church, the genius of Manes was sublime, but 
ardent, and his mind seems to have bordered on the 
extremity of madness. He gave out that he came as 
embassador from Christ, to complete an imperfect reli- 
gion. He boldly announced himself as the paraclete 
or comforter, substituted in place of the sacred volume 
another summary of doctrines, and by his eloquence, 
his qualities, and innocence of life, collected a number 
of followers. At last, the Persian monarch, Varanes J* 
condemned him to death. 

The theology of Manes was a compound of Chris- 
tianity and the old religion of the Persians. Thai 
which the Persians attributed to their God, Mithra, he 
accommodated to the character and actions of Christ. 
According to Manes there are two principles of all 
things ; one, a pure and subtile matter, called light : the 
other, gross and corrupt, denominated darkness* The 



CENTURY THIRD. 93 

ruler of light, called God, and the ruler of darkness, 
named Hyle, or demon, begat a number of natures simi- 
lar to their own. The ruler of darkness was ignorant 
for a long time of the existence of light, but no sooner 
did he become acquainted with the circumstance, than 
he was inflamed with an ardent and incredible desire to 
reduce it under his power. The ruler of light sent 
forth an army in opposition to his efforts ; but the lead- 
er of his army, who is distinguished as the First Man, 
was unhappily defeated. The vanguard of the prince 
of darkness, seized upon a portion of light, and mingled 
it with the mass of corrupt matter. The second gene- 
ral of the ruler of light, distinguished as the Living 
Spirit, conducted the war with greater success, but could 
not free the celestial matter from the corrupt elements 
through which they had been dispersed. Elate with 
his victory, the prince of darkness produced the first 
parents of the human race. The beings engendered 
from this stock, consist of a body formed out of the cor- 
rupt matter, and of two souls, one. sentient and lustful, 
the other rational, as being a particle of that divine 
light which was seized. Mankind being thus formed, 
God created the earth out of the mass of corrupt mat- 
ter, by the agency of the Living Spirit, and for the pur- 
pose of delivering the captive souls from their corporeal 
prison. To further this purpose, he also begat two 
beings of eminent dignity, Christ and the Holy Spirit, 
The former is the Persian Mithra, and inhabits the sun. 
The Holy Spirit is a luminous body, diffused throughout 
the atmosphere, and gradually drawing to their original 
situation, the particles of celestial fire. To accelerate 

8* 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

the return of imprisoned souls to their original abodes 
God commissioned Christ to descend from his mansion- 
the sun. Invested with the shadowy form of a body 
Christ instructed mankind how to disengage the rational 
soul, and conquer the influence of corrupt and malig- 
nant matter. By the devices of the prince of darkness . 
he was hurried to crucifixion ; and his mission being 
at an end, he ascended to his seat in the sun, having pre- 
viously promised to send down his Paraclete. This 
personage Manes professed himself to be, having come 
for the purpose of revealing to mortals the whole doc- 
trine of salvation. 

Those souls which are desirous of being purified 
from the contagion of matter, must renounce the wor- 
ship of the God of the Jews, the prince of darkness, 
obey the precepts of Christ and the Paraclete, and per- 
severingly combat against the lusts of the flesh. But. 
when freed from their bodies, they are still to undergo 
a double purgation, before they are admitted into the 
land of light. They pass therefore, in the first place, 
into the moon, which consist of benign and salutary 
water ; thence, after a lustration of fifteen days, into 
the sun, by whose purifying fire they are cleansed 
from all their corruption. Their bodies during this pe- 
riod, have returned to their original state of malignant 
matter. Those souls which have neglected the work 
of purification, either pass after death into the bodies 
of animals, till they have expiated their sins, or if pe- 
culiarly perverse, are fearfully tormented for a certain 
time by evil spirits. When the greatest part of souls 
have been in this way delivered, a devouring fire shall 



CENTURY THIRD. 95 

the command of God destroy the frame of the 
world. Then shall the powers of darkness be com- 
pelled again to return to their own regions of misery, 
and for ever be prevented from entering the realms of 
light, by a guard of those unhappy souls who have fal- 
len, and for ever, from all hope of salvation. The au- 
thority of the Old Testament, was attributed by Manes, 
to the prince of darkness, and not to the good being. 
He also rejected the Evangelists, the Acts of the Apos- 
tles, and Epistles of St. Paul, and supplied the place of 
them all, by a new gospel of his own, called Erting. 
Lest the severity he prescribed should hinder the in- 
crease of his sect, he divided his disciples into the 
elect, or perfect christians, and hearers, or imperfect 
and feeble. The former were obliged to abstain from 
every thing, which could gratify their corruptible bo- 
dies. The latter were permitted marriage, and the 
moderated enjoyment of corporeal gratifications. Over 
the whole body of Manicheans was appointed a presi- 
dent, who represented Jesus Christ. Under him were 
twelve rulers termed masters, and next to these in hon- 
our were seventy bishops, to whom were subjected the 
presbyters and deacons. All of these were chosen from 
among the elect. 

The sect called Hieracites, from Hierax a learned 
bookseller of Leontium, have been incorrectly suppos- 
ed to be a branch of the Manicheans. It is sufficient 
to say of them that they maintained Jesus Christ to be 
only the promulgater of a more perfect law than that of 
Moses, that they excluded children from the kingdom 
of heaven, affirmed Melchisedec to be the Holy Spirit, 



96 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

denied the resurrection of the body, and allegorized the 
Scriptures. 

At the commencement of the century, Noetus, an ob- 
scure layman of Smyrna, broached the erroneous doctrine 
that the Father had united himself to the man Christ, 
and had been crucified with him. His followers were 
from this circumstance denominated Patripassians, and 
the heresy itself was confuted by Hippolytus. 

Sabellius, an African presbyter or bishop, is said to 
have adopted and modified in some degree, the doctrine 
of Noetus. He taught that the Son and the Holy Spirit 
were only energies of the everlasting Father, and that 
the first of these energies was united to the man Jesus. 

Beryllus, bishop of Bozrah, denied that Christ before 
he was born had any other divinity than that of the Fa- 
ther : but convinced by Origen of his error, he at length 
returned to the doctrine and bosom of the Church. Paul, 
a native of Samosata, a bishop and civil magistrate, di- 
rectly denied the divinity of Christ, and with regard to the 
Trinity, held nearly the same opinions and errors with Sa- 
bellius. Against this conceited man, two councils were 
held at Antioch ; in the latter of which, anno 269, he 
was condemned and degraded. 

Against the sect of Arabians, so called from their 
country, who denied the immortality of the soul, but 
»3clieved that God would recreate it again by the power 
of his word, Origen was called from Egypt to contend : 
and he did it so effectually that they abandoned their 
sentiment, and returned to the Church. 

The Novatians did not indeed corrupt the doctrines 
of the gospel ; but they became the occasion of the 
most unhappy divisions. Their founder Novatian. a 



CENTURY THIRD. 97 

presbyter of the Church of Rome, maintained that those 
who had fallen into any grievous sins after baptism, es- 
pecially during the rage of the Deciao persecution, 
should not be restored to communion with the Church., 
though they were not excluded from all hope of salva- 
tion. Cornelius, a man of authority and character, to- 
gether with some other presbyters, opposed this opinion. 
Hence it happened, that when in the year 250, a new~ 
bishop of Rome was to be chosen, Novatian vehement- 
ly objected to the election of Cornelius ; and when his 
opposition had proved without avail, withdrew himself 
entirely from communication with that bishop. Corne- 
lius in his turn called a council at Rome, anno 251, and 
excommunicated Novatian with all his adherents. This 
turbulent man then erected a new society, of which 
he became bishop, and which flourished in maivv pro- 
vinces, till the fifth century, commending itself by an 
appearance of sanctity and zeal. The principle suppor- 
ter of Novatian in his schism was Novatus, e Carthage- 
nian presbyter, who flying from the resentment of Cy- 
prian his bishop, had arrived at Rome in the heat of 
the contest. The Christian family were considered 
by the followers of Novatian as a body of holy men, 
who had never from the period of their baptism been 
defiled by any enormous crime. Hence they regarded 
other Churches as impure, assumed to themselves the 
appellation of Cathari or pure, and re-baptised all who 
came into their communion from the pale of other 
Churches. 



BOOK II. 



FROM THE COMMENCEMENT 



OF THE REIGN OF 



CONSTANTINE. 



TO THE AGE OF 



OHAELEMAGNE. 



CENTURY FOURTH. 

CHAPTER I. 

OUTWARD STATE OF THE OKI R< K. 

Persecution of Diocletian, 

§1. From the death of Aureliun to the beginni 
this century, the Christians enjoyed a degree of tran- 
quillity and repose, which was greatly conducive to the 
prosperity and extension of the gospel, and many among 
(hem filled the highest offices of the state. But in the 
commencement of this century, Diocletian and one of 
the Caesars, a minor colleague in the empire, Galerius 
Maximinus,* issued in the month of April, anno 308, 
from the palace of Nicomidia, a cruel and vindictive 
edict, by which the churches, as well as all the copies oi 
the sacred volume, Were condemned to be burnt. Those 
who were induced by any circumstance, to surrender 
the charter of their faith, received the ignominious ap- 
pellation of Tradito7 % s. The source of this terrible 



• The Roman empire was now ruled by four chiefs ; two of whom, Diocletian 
.,id Masimian Herculeus, with the title of Augusti, held a sort of superiority 
>\ev the others, Constantius, Chlorus and Galerius Maximinus, distinguished as 
in. The last was the bitter enemy and persecutor of the Christians 
Through his means the edict was procured from Diocletian; who was led into 
bis cruelties by the persuasion of his colleagues. 



CENTURY FOURTH. lOl 

persecution, called the tenth, may be traced to the su- 
perstition of the mother of Gaterius,to the natural feroci- 
ty of that prince, and the inextinguishable hatred of the 
pagan philosophers. The author of these evils, Gale- 
rius, charged the Christians with having set fire to the 
palace of JNicomedia, where he lodged with Diocletian, 
and of causing some disturbances in Syria and Armenia. 
By a succession of edicts, each of which exceeded its 
predecessor in cruelty, Diocletian condemned the Chris- 
tians to the severest punishments. Some of these the 
historian, from a sense of decency, is unwilling to re- 
cdrd. In the western provinces only, where Constan- 
tius Chlorus held the reigns of government with a mild 
and judicious hand, were the Christians permitted to live 
in safety, or enjoy in freedom the exercise of their re- 
ligion. 

Of Constantine the Great and his successors. 

§2. The providence of God was preparing for the 
t-hurch more serene and happy days. The son of Con- 
>tantius Chlorus, Constantine, called the Great, with his 
colleague, Licinius, restored tranquillity to the Church 
in the year 312 ; and when Maxentius andMaximin, who 
had assumed the purple, were vanquished by the combi- 
ned exertions of Licinius and Constantine, the latter pub- 
licly confessed himself a convert to the gospel faith. 
The effects of this conversion did not immediately ex- 
tend into the eastern provinces. But when Maximin, 
who swayed that part of the Roman world, had put an 
end to his own life, anno 313, Constantine, in con- 

9 



)02 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

junction with his colleague, Licinius,by an edict drawn 
up at Milan, granted to the Christians the full power of 
living according to their own laws. 

It cannot be affirmed that Constantine originally 
considered the Christian as the only religion. On the 
contrary it would appear, that his intention was to place 
all the religions exercised in the Roman world, upon an 
equality. But when he had become convinced of the 
falsehood and impiety of all other religions, he exhorted 
all his subjects to embrace the truths of the gospel, and 
proclaimed himself an enemy to the ancient supersti- 
tions. At what time this complete revolution in \m 
sentiments took place, it is not easy to determine. This, 
however, is certain, that it was not until after the defeat 
and death of Licinius, and towards the close of life, 
that his design of abolishing the ancient religion of the 
Romans, was made known, by the edict which he issued, 
for destroying the heathen temples and prohibiting sacri- 
fices. The testimony of Eusebius, his friend and pane- 
gyrist, is sufficient to shew that he received the right of 
baptism from the bishop of Nicomedia, a few days only 
before his death. * How far this emperor was influen- 
ced by the favor always shewn him in his lowest for- 
tunes by the Christians, by the evident tendency of their 
religion to strengthen the bands of government, or by 
other worldly motives, must be left to the searcher of 
all hearts at the inquest of the judgment day. 

The history of that miraculous cross, which Con- 
stantine himself affirmed that he saw at mid-day, and 

* Of course, therefore, hewa-onjy a cater buroen. 



CENTURY FOURTH. lOo 

marshalling him to victory, is yet. a subject of dispute. 
It cannot be the forgery of after ages, for Eusebius nar- 
rates the occurrence from the mouth of the emperor- 
It cannot be considered as a natural phenomenon, for no 
such appearance as that which was seen, has ever been 
observed in the heavens.* It may therefore be looked 
upon as a visiont of the emperor's, with the remarkable 
inscription upon the cross, rsrw vixa ; as indicative of his 
future success. 

In the midst of the rejoicing occasioned by Constan- 
tine ? s conversion, Licinius his rival, unexpectedly rais- 
ed in his dominions a persecution against the Chris- 
tians. Twice conquered by Constantine, this misera- 
ble tyrant was at length strangled, anno 325, and the 
Christian became the religion established by law. On 
the death of Constantine the great, his sons, Constan* 
tinus, the second, Constantius, and Constans, who con- 
jointly sustained the weight of the Roman empire, left 
nothing unattempted which might tend to diffuse the 
Christian faith throughout their dominions. 

The prosperity of the church was very much inter- 
rupted, a nd but for the providence of God, would have 
received a fatal blow, when Julian the son of Julius 
Constans, and nephew of Constantine the great, be- 
came, anno 36l, sole master of the Roman empire. 
Julian had been educated in the christian religion ; but 



* This conjecture of Dv ••oshmra, notwithstanding the objections of his 
aunotator. IV! c J ean, appears the most natural and correct. 

t The appearance was not exactly a cross, but the first letters of the nam* 
of Christ interwoven. 



104 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

partly provoked by his hatred of the house of Constan- 
tine, which had caused the death of his father, his 
brother, and kinsman ; and partly seduced by the arti- 
fices of the Platonic philosophers, who abused his cre- 
dulity, and flattered his ambition, he returned to the 
ancient superstition of his ancestors. Under the mask 
of moderation he aimed the deadliest blow at the faith 
of the gospel. He deprived its professors of their 
privileges, shut up their schools, encouraged sectaries 
and schismatics, composed books against them, and used 
every means to bring the religion of Jesus to ruin and 
contempt. But while he was yet meditating still further 
schemes against the church, he fell* in the Persian 
war, by the lance of a common soldier. It is a subject 
of surprise that Julian should have found as he has, so 
many admirers. His profound superstition, his exces- 
sive and puerile thirst of popularity, his deep dissim- 
ulation, his attachment to the study of magic, his cre- 
dulity, and ignorance of genuine philosophy, were more 
than a balance to his commendable qualities. 

But hatred to the Christians was not confined to Ju- 
lian nor the pagans. The Jews were equally active 
adversaries, and in order to refute a prophecy of our 
Saviour, permission was granted and accepted by that 
people, to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. The attempt 
was unsuccessful. An earthquake, a whirlwind, and 
fiery eruption, attested by witnesses the most unexcep- 



* He died with the expression in bis mouth, " Oh Gallilean ! thou hast con- 
quered." 



CENTURY FOURTH. 105 

tionable, interrupted the workmen and put an end to 
their labors.* 

The Christian affairs upon the death of Julian once 
more assumed a benign and favorable aspect. Of the 
emperors who succeeded him, Jovian, Valens, and Ve- 
Icntinus, professed Christianity ; but left it to their 
subjects to choose their own religion. Gratian upon 
the contrary, opposed himself with warmth to the pa- 
gan idolatry, and is even said to have ordered the de 
molition of the heathen temples, and destruction of the 
statues. Theodosius the Great, who ascended the 
throne, anno 379 ? put the finishing stroke to these 
measures in favor of the Christian religion, and even 
enacted laws against the ancient superstition. Bu t 
many important and honorable situations were still filled 
by persons, who not only retained their attachment to 
the old religion, but manifested their aversion to the 
progress of the gospel. A remarkable example is ex- 
hibited in Libanius, who was raised by Theodosius to 
the high dignity of prefect or chief of the Praetorian 
guards. 

The philosophers and rhetoricians, whose schools 
were yet encouraged for the benefit they were supposed 
to produce to the state, proved bitter antagonists to the 
christian cause. Among the number was Hierocles the pla- 
tonist, who wrote two books against the gospel, in which 
he went so far as to draw a parallel between Appolo- 



* Bishop Warburton has ably and fully defended the miracle, in his work 
entitled Julina. The deception of Gibbon and his duplicity is very apparent 
in his account of this event. Dec. c. 23, 

9* 



06 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

nius Tyaneus and our blessed redeemer. To him may 
be added the emperor Julian, Himerius the sophist, 
and Libanius the statesman. Not a few of these 
sophists appear to have adopted a middle path ; to 
"have held to the ancient worship, and yet acknowledged 
the exalted merits of Christ as the expounder of those 
truths, which had hitherto been concealed by the pagan 
priests under allegorical representations. Of this 
class there is reason to believe were, Ammianus Mar- 
cellinus, and Themistius the orator. Not a few were 
the barbarous nations which the zeal of the Constantino 
family converted to the faith. Gregory, called the en- 
lightentr evangelized Armenia and brought, Tiridates its 
monarch and all the nobles of his court, to the know- 
ledge of the truth. Frumentius converted the Abas- 
sines of Ethiopia, called Auxumitse from their prin- 
cipal city. The light of the gospel was spread through- 
out Iberia, the present Georgia, by a female captive, 
whose sanctity and miracles, performed in the name of 
Jesus Christ, touched the hearts of the monarch and 
his queen. In Europe, the Marcomanni, and Goths 
who inhabited Thrace, were confirmed in Christianity 
by Ulphilas their bishop, who invented for them a 
set of letters, and translated the scriptures into the 
Gothic tongue. Sulpituis Severus has celebrated the 
labors of the venerable Martin, bishop of Tours, in 
completely freeing the Gauls from their former corrup- 
tions and gross superstitions. ^>The causes which led to 
these great and important changes, are to be found not 
only in the authority and example of the victorious 
Constantine, but partly in the holy and indefatigable 



CENTURY FOURTH. 107 

zeal of many Christians, in the translations which were 
every where circulated of the sacred volume, and also 
in the miraculous powers, which, though declining, 
would appear to have still remained in the Church for 
many purposes, particularly for the conversion of the 
Gentile nations. <The host of miracles attributed to 
Anthony, Paul the hermit, and Martin, may however be 
rejected without the smallest hesitation. 

Few 7 circumstances occurred to counterbalance this 
prosperity and extension of the gospel. Beyond the 
Roman empire, Athanaric, king of the Goths, for a time 
persecuted the church ; and Sapor the Persian mon- 
arch, induced by the arts of the Magi and Jews, to-sus- 
pect the christians in his dominions of being in league 
with the Romans, inflicted upon them for more than 
half a century, the utmost calamities. With these two 
exceptions, the gospel appears to have been generally 
received by all the gentile people with favor and ap- 
probation. 



CHAPTER II. 

CONSTITUTION AND TEACHERS. 

§1. Although Constantine assumed the supreme pow- 
er in the church, he permitted it to remain a body poli- 
tic distinct from that of the state, and made no altera- 
tion in its form of government. The power of the peo- 
ple was neither increased nor diminished. The provin- 
cial bishops deliberated in council, concerning the inter- 
est of the church in a single province. To these minor 



108 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

councils were afterwards added ecumenical councils 
consisting of commissioners from all the churches in 
the world. To the changes which Constantine had 
thought fit to introduce in the civil administration, he 
endeavored to suit the ecclesiastical government. In 
consequence of this, new titles were created, and the 
extent of the old ones more accurately defined. The 
hishops of Rome, Antioch, and Alexandria, had hither- 
to held a degree of pre-eminence over others ; to these 
were now added the bishops of Constantinople ; and 
each of them was distinguished by the title of Patri- 
arch.* Next in power and extent of jurisdiction to the 
Patriarchs, were the Primates or Metropolitans, who 
presided over a province ; and then followed the bish- 
ops, the sphere of whose authority differed according 
to their different situations.! The inspection of the 
church was divided by Constantine into external and 
internal. The latter, which included religious contro- 
versies, forms of worship, the offices of priests, eccle- 
siastical censures, and subjects of a like nature, were 
committed to bishops and the wisdom of councils. The 
former, which embraced contests among the clergy con- 
cerning property, the privileges of the church, offences 



* Some difficulty attends the distinguishing of these titles, owing to the cl;an 
ges which took place in the power attached to them. Patriarchs appear to 
have also had the title of Exarchs, or Arch-bishops, though the latter is new 
-ynonomous with that of Metropolitan, or primate of a province. I follow the 
accurate Bingham. Or. Ec. 2, 17. 1 et. seq. Mosheim makes a distinction be- 
♦ween Exarchs, Metropolitans, and Arch-bishops.. His. cent. iv. 

t The Chorepiscopi and their powers have been treated of before. F. 38* 
Hooker. Ec. Pol 1, 8, p. 337. 



CENTURY FOURTH. 109 

against the laws, and things of the same kind, were re- 
served by the Emperor for his own regulation. He 
and his successors therefore, had the power of calling 
councils, and presiding in them when met. But it is 
proper to observe, that these limits of external and in- 
ternal inspection, were not always observed or defined 
with the utmost accuracy, by the emperor or the offi- 
cers of the church. 

The authority of the Roman bishop had grown at 
this period to an exceeding height. In cases of diffi- 
culty appeals had been frequently made to his deci- 
sion. The fourth canon of a council held at Sardis, 
anno 347, is usually adduced by the votaries of the 
Roman pontiff, as conferring on him the power of a 
universal judge in the Christian world ; but many cir- 
cumstances combine to lessen the weight which the 
authority of this canon might have, and the council it- 
self is too obscure to settle a point of such exceeding 
importance. The rapid rise of this prelate is rather 
to be ascribed to the imprudence of some emperors, 
and the dissensions which took place in the bosom of 
the church, where each party was anxious to procure 
the favor of a person, so important as the bishop of 
Rome By founding Constantinople, the first Chris- 
tian emperor had effectually, though without intention, 
raised a formidable rival to the principal prelate of the 
west. Relying on the rank which necessarily attached 
itself to the new seat of empire, the bishop of Constan- 
tinople endeavored, and finally succeeded in his en~ 
deavors, to subject the eastern provinces and their 
bishops to his ecclesiastic superiority. In the council 



110 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

of Constantinople, assembled by order of Theodosius 
the great, anno 383, he was placed in the next rank af- 
ter the bishop of Rome, and consequently above those 
of Alexandria and Antioch. Neetarius was the first 
who experienced this honor. His successor St. Chry- 
sostom extended still further the privileges of that see, 
and brought under its jurisdiction Thrace, Asia, and 
Pontus. But the jealousy of Rome now took the 
alarm, and her bishop, uniting with those of the 
east who were umbraged at the absorbing influ- 
ence of the Constantinopolitan see, left nothing untried 
to diminish the power of his rival. Hence arose 
those dissensions, which concluded at last, in the entire 
separation of the Latin and Greek churches. 

The face of the Christian world exhibited, in general; 
the happy effects of the religion which is from above : 
but the vices of the clergy, their luxury, voluptuousness 
and pride, increased in proportion to the honors, the 
wealth, and the advantages they gained from the liber- 
ality of emperors. The inferior orders followed the 
vices of their superiors, and each sought to aggrandize 
his own interest at the expense of the other. The pres- 
byters of greater influence, assumed the style of Arch- 
presbyters, and in like manner, the deacons the title of 
Arch-deacons. # 



* Bing. 2, 21,1. 2. 3, says, the Arch-deacons were generally chosen to the 
vacated seat of the Bishop. They are now, in the English Church, of the 
order of presbyters. 



CENTURY FOURTH, 111 

CHAPTER III. 

THE DOCTRINE OP THE CHURCH, 

Its condition and writers. 

§S. The fundamental truths of religion were undoubt- 
edly preserved in purity by the great body of the 
Churches throughout the Christian world. But an enthu- 
siastic admiration for the platonic philosophy, became 
the source of an extravagant veneration for departed 
saints, of an increased attachment to the doctrine of pur- 
gatory, and the worship of images, and of a supersti- 
tious regard for relics ; while the preposterous desire 
of imitating the profane rites of the ancient worship, and 
its ostentatious display of grandeur, was a main and tin- 
happy cause of the general introduction into the Churchy 
of numerous and absurd superstitions. Hence, the 
pilgrimages to the Holy Land, and to tombs of particular 
martyrs. Hence the reverence which was shewn to 
the dust and earth of Palestine, and other sacred spots ; 
and hence the public processions, and the virtues which 
were attributed to certain consecrated places of pub- 
lic worship, and to the images of saints. Tombs of mar- 
tyrs were built, where no martyrs had ever died. Rob- 
bers were sometimes converted into saints. The bones 
*>f the dead were deposited in a given spot, and the 



112 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

the performer of the feat would then be admonished 
in a remarkable dream, that there lay the relict of 
an eminent friend of God. In a word, the most odious 
practices were adopted, to the detriment of religion and 
disgrace of the Church. 

Many attempts were made, and not a few successful 
ones, to extend the blessing of the sacred volume, by 
means of translations and copious expositions. Among 
those who were most successful in correcting the dif- 
ferent versions of the scriptures, were Jerome,* Euse- 
oius, Athanasius and Euthalius. To these may be 
added as eminent interpreters, Hilary of Poictier, 
Diodorus of Tarsus, Ruffinus of Auqileia, Ephraem the 
Syrian, Theodoras of Heraclia, Chrysostom, and Didy- 
mus. The Christian teachers, for the most part, were 
wont to explain the scriptures by the rules of the 
platonic philosophy as corrected by Origen ; while the 
tribe of the Mystics, who conceived that a knowledge of 
divine truth was only to be acquired by silent contem- 
plation, was daily gaining ground. In doctrinal theol- 
ogy, the first place is due to Cyril of Jerusalem. In the 
same walk may be numbered Chrysostom, Gregory. 
Hilary ,t Epiphanius, Pacianus, and above all, St. Au- 
gustin, bishop of Hippo. In place of the ancient sim- 
plicity, on subjects in dispute, the subtilties of the dia- 
lectic art became now extremely fashionable. New 
modes of proof were now adopted. The number of 



* The translation by St. Jerome is commonly called the vulgate. 
| This eminent man was at first a Manichean. " The child of such tears 
can never perish," said the bisbop of Hippo to St. lugustin's mother. 



CENTURY FOURTH. J IS 

martyrs who had professed a certain doctrine, the 
performance of miracles, the testimony of demons, or 
rather of persons possessed by them, were all adduced 
as so many undeniable witnesses to any particular point 
it was thought desirable to establish. As an example 
of this, St. Ambrose may be cited, who produced cer- 
tain men supposed to be laboring under the influence 
of evil spirits, and demanded that their evidence should 
be received as unquestionable, when, (the relics of two 
martyrs being brought into their presence,) they gave it 
against the Arians, in favor of the decrees of the coun- 
cil of Nice, on the subject of the Trinity. Among the 
controversialists, Gregory Nazianzen, Cyril of Alexan- 
dria, and Apoliinaris, refuted the emperor Julian. 
Lactantius, Athanasius, Julius Maternus, Appollinaris 
the younger, St. Austin, in his City of God, and Euse- 
bius in his Evangelical Preparation, attacked the wor- 
shippers of the heathen deities. Eusebius of Emessa, 
Diodorus of Tarsus, and Chrysostom, endeavored to 
draw the Jews to the faith of the gospel. Ephraem 
the Syrian, James, bishop of Nisibis, Didymus, Auden- 
tius, Epiphanius, in his well known work entitled, Pa- 
Jiarium, Gregory Nazianzen, Augustin and Philastrius. 
drew their pens against the heretics. 

In the field of moral theology the laborers were 
many. Among the Orientals, James of Nisibis or 
Saruga, Ephraim the Syrian, St. Basil the great, 
Ambrose, Chrysostom, and St. Augustin, shine con- 
spicuous. None, however, equal in practical divinity. 
Macarius, an ^Egyptian monk ; with which single excep- 
tion, all the writers of this class are exceedinfflv faultv. 
10 



114 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

Neglecting, for the most part, any system in their mo- 
ral duties, in place of sound demonstration, they 
confuse rather than persuade, by false imagery, alle- 
gorical representations, and subtile conceits. 

Of the Mystics and Monks. 

^,2. The evils we have mentioned, were less perni- 
cious in their character, than the attempted combination 
of the doctrines of the gospel and those of Plato, and 
that double doctrine of morals which now became ex- 
ceedingly common. It is probable that in this age lived 
that famous Grecian fanatic, who, under the name of 
Dyonysius the Areopagite, the disciple of St. Paul, gave 
laws to the mystics. The number of those Christians, 
both male and female, who had devoted themselves, on 
religious grounds to a life of solitude and celibacy, had 
hitherto been considerable ; but Anthony, an Egyptian, 
was the first who established in his native country, 
anno 305, fixed laws and a system for this mode of life, 
and collected such as he found to be this way inclined, 
into regular societies. Hilarion, his disciple, introdu- 
ced the practice into Palestine and Syria during the* 
following year, and almost at the same time, Aones or 
Eugenius, with Gaddana and Azyzes, followed their 
example in Mesopotamia. This gloomy institution 
soon passed into the west. St. Martin, of Tours, was 
the first who erected monastries in Gaul ; and from 
thence the practice extended through other parts of 
Europe. The western monks were never so severe 
in their laws and discipline as those of the cast : a cir- 



CENTURY FOURTH. 115 

cimistance resulting from the difference of climate, and 
from the opposite habits and character of the eastern and 
western people. These monks were divided in the first 
place, into Ccenobites and Eremites. The former lived 
together in fixed habitations under a chief, whom they 
denominated Abbot, or father. The latter drew out a 
miserable life in solitude, sheltered only by a rock or 
some wretched hovel, from the dangers of the desert 
around them. The Anchorites, in austerity, surpassed 
even the Eremites. They lived in places the most 
inhospitable, emaciated their bodies, fed only on roots, 
and wandered about to avoid an intercourse with man- 
kind. The last kind of monks, were those wandering 
fanatics, who procured their maintenance by a shew of 
miracles and the sale of relics. All these different 
kind of orders were at first only laymen, and under the 
jurisdiction of a bishop. But many were now, even 
by order of the emperors, admitted among the clergy, 
and bishops were sometimes chosen out of their body. 

To the errors in moral theology already enumerated, 
two others of a highly pernicious character were added, 
The first of these, was the notion, that there was no 
criminality in lying and deceit, when, by that means, 
the interest of the church might be promoted. The 
second was the maxim, that religious errors, when 
maintained, after proper admonition, were to be pun- 
ished by civil penalties and corporeal tortures. The 
former of these maxims, became the origin of fictitious 
miracles, and of other pious frauds, as they were term- 
ed, so injurious to the interests of genuine religion. 
The latter maxim arose during the quiet which the 



110 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

church enjoyed under Constantine, was enforced by 
several examples in the controversies with Priscillianist? 
and Donatists, received even the sanction of the vener- 
able St Austin, and was transmitted to future ages, 
There was, as may be supposed, a mixture of good and 
evil in the church ; but when external violence was no 
longer feared, when the clergy most grossly neglected 
the duties of their sacred functions, and when, as means 
of conversion, the hope of temporal honors, and the fear 
of corporeal punishments were employed — what wonder 
that the Church should become greatly contaminated, 
that ihe pious and holy should be in a mariner over- 
borne, and the salutary discipline of penance and morti- 
fication, which had hitherto been inflicted on all offen- 
ders indiscriminately, should now be neglected or exer- 
cised only on the poor and the timid ! 

Controve?-sies. 

§3. About the year 306, Meletius, bishop ofLycopo 
lis. in Egypt, was deposed, for some cause or other, 
from his episcopal rank. Disregarding the sentence, 
he proceeded even so far as to consecrate presbyters ; 
a power hitherto confined to the Metropolitan, or as he 
may now be called, the Patriarch of Alexandria. The 
gravity of Meletius drew many to his side, who, at a sub- 
sequent period, joined the Arian party. Lucifer, 
bishop of Cagliari in Sardinia, separated entirely from 
the communion of the Church Catholic, in consequence 
of absolution being granted to those who returned to 



CENTURY" FOURTH; 11/ 

the orthodox party, after deserting to the Arians. In 
Armenia and Pontus, Eustathius was the occasion of 
great disorders, by recommending an entire abstinence 
from all corporeal enjoyments, and by permitting to 
children and servants, the breach of their parents', or 
masters' command, on religious pretences. Aerius, a 
presbyter, monk, and Semi-arian, excited divisions 
throughout Pontus and Capadocia by asserting that in 
the New Testament no distinction was made between 
presbyters and bishops. He also denied the propri- 
ety, of prayers for the dead, stated fasts, and the obser- 
vance of Easter. The error of Jovinian, an Italian 
monk, is said to have been confined to a disparagement 
of celibacy and bodily mortification, and the opinion 
that all who adhered to their baptismal vow, would be 
equally blessed hereafter. But he was condemned by 
St. Ambrose in the council of Milan, anno 390, was 
severely treated by St. Jerome, and was finally banished 
by Honorius to the island of Boa. But of all the con- 
troversies in this century, none surpassed that to 
which the authority and reputation of Origen gave 
rise. The weight of this man's name, though charged 
with many errors, was so great in the Christian world, 
as to render it an object of desire by either party, in a 
dispute, to enlist it on their side. When the Arians chal- 
lenged Origen as maintaining their sentiments on the 
subject of the Trinity, to rescue him from this re- 
proach, Eusebius composed a vindication of his charac- 
ter. The monks, especially those of Egypt, doated on 
Origen's memory, and every where endeavored to pro- 
pagate his opinions. John, bishop of Jerusalem, warm* 
10* 



A 18 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

\y defended his cause against Epiphanius ; and Ruffinus,. 
a presbyter of Aquileia, and once the friend of St. Je- 
rome, took the same ground in the west. At length 
Theophilus of Alexandria, enraged with the monks who 
inhabited mount Nitria, principally on account of their 
attachment to Origen, took every means of annoying 
them, and drove them from their abode. The Origenists 
were divided into those who entirely approved of all 
<he doctrines attributed to that learned and inquisitive 
man, and those who were indeed his friends, but would 
not patronise the errors of which he was accused, and 
with which they affirmed his writings had been mali- 
ciously adulterated. 



CHAPTER IV. 

HISTORY OP RITES AND CEREMONIES. 

Speaking upon this subject, St. Augustin complains, 
that the yoke under which the Jews formerly groaned, 
was more tolerable than that imposed upon the Chris- 
tians^ his day. Together with many of the privileges 
and rights of the ancient heathen priests, the bishops 
of the church adopted their external pomp, their 
gorgeous attire, their lktui or crosiers,* their public 
processions, and other circumstances of ostentatious 
pageantry. The Churches were now built in imitation 
of the ancient temples. Those which were erected 
over the sepulchres of martyrs, were denominated mar- 

* The liltui were the augur's ensign. 



CENTURY FOURTH. 119 

fyriciy and were frequented only at stated times. Those 
which were used upon ordinary occasions, received the 
name of tituli* Both of these were consecrated with 
considerable pomp, and with ceremonies borrowed 
from those of the pagan temples. To encourage the 
opulent in the pious design of building churches, the 
right of patronage,! or of choosing the officiating min- 
ister, was granted to any one who would found a place 
of public worship. The mode of worship adopted was 
not the same in all churches. Every bishop had origi- 
nally the power of framing his own liturgy ; though 
in after ages, the churches of a province conformed to 
the liturgy of the Metropolitan. f The Psalms were 
now generally introduced as part of the service. The 
sermons became longer, and were composed more than 
formerly with a view to rhetorical elegance ; nor was it 
unusual for the people to express their approbation of a 
favorite preacher, by long and violent applause. By 
an express law of Constantine, the first day of the 
week was ordered to be kept with more solemnity than 
it had ever been. The great festivals celebrated in 
most of the Christian Churches, were to commemorate 
the birth, the crucifixion, and ascension of our Saviour, 
and the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles. 
To this was also added the observance of the day on 
which our Lord was baptised, and that on which the Magi 



* Bingham, Orig. Ec. 8, 1.10. 

f Bing. 4, 2, 19, 

t'A proof of this is found in one of the Canons of the council of Agde. 

An; 5'og. 



20 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

were instructed to go to Bethlehem. This last festival 
was observed by the Easterns on the sixth of January. 
in memory of the nativity ; an event which the western 
churches fixed to the 25th of December. The festivals of 
fhe martyrs, were now considerably multiplied, but the 
vigils as they were called, of Easter, Whitsuntide, and 
Pentecost, were rather occasions of riotous festivity, 
than seasons, as they ought to be, of serious and re- 
ligious meditation. The quadregesimal or lent fast, 
was esteemed as more sacred than any of the rest, 
though the learned dispute, whether originally it was 
only a fast of forty hours, or prolonged to forty days. 
Instead of the former rigid abstinence from all food, 
it was usually thought sufficient to abstain from all . 
such gross and inflammatory food as flesh and wine 

Baptism was administered in baptistries attached 
io the church, and except in special cases, on the 
vigils of Easter and Whitsuntide. A double unction 
was used, one preceding, and the other following the 
administration. The persons baptised were ordered 
to wear a white garment for seven days. Catechu- 
mens still remained upon their ancient footing. The 
Lord's supper was administered in some places, twice 
or thrice a week ; in others only on Sunday. It was 
sometimes administered at the tombs of martyrs ; and 
hence, doubtless, afterwards arose the masses for the 
dead, as also the adoration of the symbols, from the prac- 
tice of holding them up on these occasions, to public- 
view. Neither Catechumens, those supposed to be un- 
der the influence of evil spirits, nor those in the con- 
dition of penitents, were allowed to partake of this 
sacred mystery. 



CENTURY FOURTH, 

CHAPTER V, 

HISTORY OF HERESIES. 

Of DonathtSy Apollinarians, Macedonius, Priscillia^ 
and others. 

Of the ancient sects which yet remained, that of the 
Manicheans continued to attract a considerable num- 
ber of followers. Among these may be distinguished 
the celebrated Augustin Escaping however, by the 
mercy of God, from their pernicious delusions, he 
turned the force of his talents and learning against 
them, and with the utmost success. But neither the 
force of argument nor the severity of laws, was suffi- 
cient as yet to put an end to this heresy. To escape 
the force of edicts, and the penalties attached to them, 
the Mancheans concealed themselves under the vari- 
ous appellations of Encratitcs, Apotactites, Sacco- 
l)hori,Hydroparastites, and Solitari i. There is still 
extant against them a severe Ihw of Theodosius. 

A far more extensive and formidable evil made its 
appearance in Africa. In the year 311, Caecilianus was 
created the bishop of Carthage The Numidian bish- 
ops, who were offended at his consecration being per- 
formed without their presence, denied its validity, on 
the ground of its having been performed by Traditors. 
In consequence of this, and the pretended contumacy 
of Caecilianus, in refusing to appear before them, they 
chose Majorinus his deacon, to fill his place. Botrus 
and Celesius, two presbyters, and Lucilla an opulent 



i22 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

woman, were active in exasperating the spirits of his 
adversaries. But none of the Numidian bishops were 
•so bitter in their enmity, as Donatus of Casse Nigra?, 
from whom the faction derived its name. The Dona- 
lists affirmed, as the Nov:,tians did before them, that 
the authority of a bishop depended on the character 
of those by whom he was inaugurated, that the church 
was a society of sinless men, and that they who had 
lapsed could not be restored to the communion of the 
church. At the councils of Rome and of Aries, and 
finally in presence of Constantine himself, the Dona- 
tists were condemned. Not yielding to that decision, 
their contumacy was in some degree restrained and bro- 
ken, by several edicts, which deprived them of their 
churches, and sent their bishops into banishment.* In 
the midst of these disputes, arose the Circumcelliones, 
a sanguinary set of men, who embracing the Donatist. 
party, committed throughout Africa, the utmost out- 
rages on their opponents. This daring and fearless 
rabble, brought the greatest disgrace and odium upon 
the Donatists ; by the bishops and better sort of which 
faction, however, they do not appear to have been en- 
couraged. Constantine at length, in fear of a sedition, 
abrogated his former laws, and permitted the Africans 
to espouse which side they pleased. But Donatus and 
the Circumcelliones refused to be reconciled or to sub- 
mit. At last, in a battle, which they fought with Maca- 
rius, the lieutenant of Constans, they were utterly de- 
feated, and suffered the consequences of their rashness. 

* Witsius Misc. Sac. vol. J< p. 743. De Schism, Don. 



CENTURY FOURTH. 123 

tor more than thirteen years. Julian permitted, anno 
362, the exiled Donatists to return. This privilege 
they abused, and brought over the greatest part of Africa 
to their interest. Gratian issued severe laws against 
them ; but the fury of the Circumcelliones, the sol- 
diery of the Donatists, prevented their being carried into 
full effect. At the close of the century a division which 
arose among them, and the strenuous exertions of the 
learned Augustin, greatly contributed to weaken their 
strength. The great error of this sect lay in refusing 
to hold communion with the African Churches, or with 
any who adhered to the cause of Csecilianus. In con- 
sequence, they rejected the rites of those who differed 
from them, re-baptized without exception all that 
came over to their party, and re-ordained the authoriz- 
ed ministers of the gospel, or deprived them of their 
office. 

In the year 317, a still more capital heresy arose in 
Egypt, to afflict the Christian world. The subject of 
this fatal controversy was the doctrine of three persons 
in the Godhead. Hitherto the mutual relation of the 
three persons in the Godhead, and the nature of that 
distinction which exists between them, were neither dis- 
puted nor explained.* In Egypt, and the adjacent 
countries, the opinions of Origen on this subject, as on 
others, had generally prevailed. He supposed that 
the Son was in God, that which reason is in man ; and 



* In the case of Sabelliu?,tbe Church had determined that Father, Son, and 
Holy Ghost, rrere distinct. 



124 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

the Holy Spirit he considered as a divine energy or ac* 
live force. These sentiments incautiously worded, lead 
directly to Sahellianism ; and with this error Alexander, 
bishop of Alexandria, was accordingly charged. For, 
having on a certain occasion maintained, that the Son 
was not only of the same dignity, but of the same es- 
sence with the Father, Arius his pre sbyter, objected, 
that this language bordered on the exploded error of Sa- 
bellius, and afiirmed, that the Son was only the first and 
uoblest of those beings whom the Father had created 
out of nothing, as the instrument of his future operations, 
and that he is consequently inferior both in nature and 
dignity. The opinions of Arius concerning the Holy 
Spirit, are not sufficiently clear. But his notions of the 
Son of God were accompanied with others, which, whe- 
ther originating in hatred of Alexander, or any other 
cause, were very different from those most commonly 
entertained. Condemned in two councils, assembled 
at Alexandria by his bishop, he took refuge in Palestine. 
From thence he circulated epistles in defence of his 
doctrines, to the most eminent men of the time, many 
of whom by the force of his arguments he drew over to 
his side, and among others Eusebius, bishop of Nico- 
media.* Constantine being roused at last, to see the 
importance of the controversy, and his exhortations 
being ineffectual to reconcile the parties, assembled for 
the purpose of deciding the cause, that celebrated ecu- 



* Not the celebrated historian, bishop of Ceserea, who however has been 
charged, particularly by T.e Clerc, with holding this error, though perhaps 
ivith injustice. 



CENTURY FOURTH. 125 

menical council of Nice to Bythinia, anno 325. It was 
here that the doctrine of Arius, after many hard struggles. 
was finally condemned. Christ was declared to be Ho- 
moousian, (o^ostfios,) • or in other words, of the same es- 
sence with the Father. Arius himself was exiled to II- 
lyria, and his followers were compelled to sign the creed 
of the council, at the head of which presided Osius of 
Cordova. It is strange that no authentic acts of this fa- 
mous assembly have come down to our times. The Greeks 
number twenty of them, and the Latins many more, 
The controversy respecting the time of celebrating 
Easter Sunday was settled at this council in favor of the 
western practice. The troubles which Novatian exci- 
ted by opposing the re-admission of the lapsed into the 
Church were composed, and the Meletian schism was 
finally put to rest, by defining precisely the jurisdiction 
of Metropolitans. A law which was proposed for im- 
posing celibacy on the clergy was happily warded off 
by the efforts of Paphnutius himself unmarried.* But 
the authority of the Nicene council, supported by that 
of the emperor, did not silence the Arians. An Arian 
priest, who was recommended to Constantine in the 
last moments of his sister, found means to persuade that 
emperor, that the condemnation of Arius had been un- 
justly procured. Upon this, the heretic was re-called 
from exile, and Eusebius of Nicomedia was permitted to 
harrass in various ways, the abettors of the council of 
Nice. Athanasius in particular, felt the effects of Arian 
hatred. Driven from his episcopal seat of Alexandria* 



*Soc. Ec. His, Lib. 3 c. 7. 
11 



126 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

anno 335, he was banished into Gaul. Before however 
the order for admitting Arius into communion, could be 
carried into execution, this unhappy author of so much 
trouble, died a miserable death in the eastern capital, a 
little before Constantine himself breathed his last. 
Constantius attached himself to the Arian party, and 
Valens his successor in the eastern part of the empire, 
rigorously persecuted the supporters of the Nicene faith. 
The factions into which the Arian heresy divided itself, 
as distinguished by ancient writers, are three. The ge- 
nuine Arians simply asserted, that our Lord was inferior 
to the Father, and created out of nothing. From these, 
on the one hand the Semiarians, and on the other 
the Eunojnians, seceded. The former held the 
Son to be homoiousian (6fAo»&<fio£,) or similar to the Fa- 
ther in essence, not by nature but by privilege. The 
latter who are also called Aetians and Exacontians, and 
may be considered as pure Arians, maintained that 
Christ was heterousian, (hrsgkttios,') or unlike the Father 
in nature as in other respects. Apollinaris the younger, 
bishop of Laodicea, was a strenuous maintainer of the 
divinity of our Lord. But, led astray as is probable by 
a love of the Platonic notions concerning the two fold 
nature of the soul, he maintained the opinion, that in 
the body of our Saviour, endowed only with a sentient, 
the divine nature supplied the place of the rational 
soul. Marcellus of Ancyra, if we credit Eusebius, was 
little else than a Sabellian. Photinus his disciple, and 
bishop of Sirmium, published, anno 343, his errors con- 
cerning the deity. He supposed that Jesus Christ was 
born of the Holy Ghost, and the virgin Mary : that a 



CENTURY FOURTH. 12 7 

divine emanation or ray, which he called the word^ de 
scended upon this extraordinary man, who was there- 
fore called the Son of God. He also denied that the 
Holy Spirit was any thing but an emanation of the 
divine nature. 

After the death of this man in exile, Macedonius, 
bishop of Constantinople, taught, that the Holy Spirit 
was only a divine energy, diffused throughout the uni- 
verse, and not a self-subsisting person distinct from the 
Father and the Son. This opinion had many friends in 
the Asiatic provinces. But the second ecumenical coun- 
cil assembled at Constantinople by Theodsius the great; 
anno 381, crushed this sect in the bud. In this council, 
there were present one hundred and fifty bishops, who 
confirmed the received doctrines of the councils of 
Nice, branded with infamy all the errors of the time, 
placed the bishop of Constantinople next in rank to 
him of Rome, and determined other points, which they 
deemed essential to the welfare of the Church. 

Priscilian, bishop of Abila, revived the precepts of 
the ancient Gnostics, which in the beginning of the 
century had been brought into Egypt, by Marc, and 
recommended to the ignorant the impiety of the Man- 
icheans, under the appearance of a rigid sanctity. He 
found numerous followers both in Spain and in Gaul ; 
but at length, anno 384, by a rescript of Maximus the 
tyrant of Gaul, he was capitally punished.* The minor 



* The sentence was procured in consequence of the charge laid against 
him by the Bishops of £pain. The agents in this business were universally 

condemnedv 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORV. 

sects which appeared in this century, can claim only a 
brief notice. The 31essalians or EucMtes placed the 
whole of religion in prayers and fasts, by which only 
they supposed that the evil demon residing in every 
man, could effectually be expelled. Audseus a Syrian, 
attributed to the deity a human form, and refused to ac- 
cede to the resolution of the Nicene council, respecting 
the celebrationof Easter He found many followers in Scy- 
thid where he was banished, and among the Goths where 
he went. At the close of the century, Arabia was dis- 
turbed by the Antidicomarianites and Colcyridians. 
The former maintained that the mother of our Lord, 
did not always remain a virgin ; but the latter who 
were particularly favored by the female sex, worship- 
ped the virgin with oblations and sacrifices, and espe- 
cially with cakes, from which latter circumstance, tbey 
evidently derived their name. 



CENTURY FIFTH. 

CHAPTER I. 

OUTWARD STATE OP THE CHURCH. 

Its Progress* 

Si. The division of the Roman empire into two 
parts, of which Arcadius had the eastern, and Honorius 
the western, and the constant incursions of the Goths, 
Franks, Heiuli, Huns, Vandals, and other northern bar- 
barians, threatened for a time a melancholy reverse to 
the outward condition of the Christian Church. But 
the cruelty exercised, by these fierce and warlike na- 
tions, towards the Christians, was rather owing to the 
instigation and malice of the pagans, than to any inhe- 
rent antipathy to the gospel cause. The Christian 
emperors, and particularly those of the East, among 
whom Theodosius the younger is conspicuous, were 
more active than ever in extirpating the remains of the 
ancient superstition. In the midst of civil convulsions, 
the church continued to gain ground. The inhabitants 
of Libanus and Antilibanus, were led by the persuasions 
of Simeon, called the Stylite, whose aid they had im- 
plored against the ravages of wild beasts, to embrace 
the gospel faith. Many of the Cretan Jews, awakened 
from their dream of a temporal Messiah in the person 
11* 



T ECCLESIASTICAL HIST0R1T. 

of Moses Cretensis, were brought to acknowledge the re- 
deemer of mankind. The Burgundians, who dwelt on^the 
banks of the Rhine, embraced the gospel of their own 
accord^ from an idea which prevailed among the northern 
barbarians, that Christ, the God of the Romans, must be 
of all divinities the most powerful, and therefore able to 
protect his worshippers.* It may have been on the 
same principle that Clovis, the founder of the French 
monarchy,! relinquished his idolatrous faith for that of 
the Roman empire. In the midst of a battle against 
the Alemanni, he had vowed on condition of victory, to 
worship Christ, the God of his wife Clotildis, the pious 
daughter of the Burgundian King. The battle was 
won, anno 496, and Clovis received baptism at the 
hands of Remiguis, bishop of Rheims.ij: The. conver- 
sion of Clovis, is said to be the origin of the titles 
bestowed upon the monarch s of France, of Most Chris- 
tian King, and eldest son of the Church. The exam- 
ple of Clovis had a powerful effect, and multitudes of 
Franks received the right of baptism. Celestine, the 
Roman Pontiff, on the death of Palladius, whose efforts 
were not successful, commissioned Succathus, on whom 
he conferred the name of Patrick, to preach the gospel 
in Ireland, in the year 432. This resolute evangelist, 
after attacking, with great success, the superstitions of 



* Soc. Be. His. lib- vii. c.30. 

f At least tie first King of the Franks, who possessed all the countr!- 
tween the Rhine and the Loire. 

| The holy oil with which the Kings of France were anointed, is said lo 
have been wrought by a dove upon this occasion. 



CENTURY FIFTH. 131 

the country, founded anno 472, the Archbishopric of 
Armagh. The memory of this apostle is still held, 
among the Irish, in the utmost veneration. These con- 
versions are, doubtless, in a great degree, to be attribu- 
ted to the labors of holy men, and also to the power of 
God working with them ; but the greatest part of the 
prodgies recorded in this century, are undeserving of 
credit. 

The efforts of pagans against Christianity. 

§2. The worshippers of the- pagan deities endeav- 
ored to impress the new invaders of the Roman em- 
pire with sentiments inimical to the cause of Christ. 
However successful at first, their design was finally 
baffled by the conversion of almost all the barbarous 
tribes. The feeble objection, that the miseries of the 
empire were inflicted by the Gods, on account of their 
deserted altars, was answered by Orosius, and by Au- 
gustin, in his city of God ; while Salvianus wrote a 
work on the government of God, to refute the infidel 
notion, that there was no divine providence, since 
such misery was permitted. In the province of Gaul 
not a few were the calamities, which the Christians 
were obliged to suffer from the Goths and the Vandals. 
In Britain, the Anglo saxons turned their arms against 
King Yortigern who had called them in against the 
Scots, compelled the ancient inhabitants to fly to Bata- 
via and Wales, and crushed the church wherever they 
came. In Persia, the inconsiderate zeal of Abdas a 
certain bishop, in destroying a temple dedicated to fire 
occasioned the cruel death of many Christians, and the 



i^2 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

banishment of more. In many places throughout the 
east, the Jews, who enjoyed a high degree of favor^ 
harrassed the Church by every means in their power. 
Among them there was none more remarkable for his 
rancor than Gamaliel their patriarch, against whom 
Theodosius was obliged to issue an express edict. 



CHAPTER II. 

CONSTITUTION AND TEACHERS. 

The limits of the Episcopal power were narrowed 
ur enlarged, in a great degree, according to the politi- 
cal state of the empire, and the intrigues of the Court. 
The bishops of Constantinople had already reduced the 
provinces of Asia, Thrace, and Pontus, under their ju- 
risdiction. Illyricum was now added ; and by the 
twenty-eighth canon of the council of Chalcedon, anno 
451, they were raised to the same rights and honors 
with the bishops of Rome. Against the passage of this 
decree, Leo the Roman pontiff, and many other pre- 
lates, most strenuously protested. The patriarchs of 
Constantinople, and especially Acacius, endeavored 
also to subject to their power those of Antioch 
and Alexandria. About the same time too, Juvenal, 
the bishop of YElia or Jerusalem, sought to elevate his 
diocese over that of Cesarea. The high degree of ven- 
eration entertained for his city, as the mother church, 
and the favor of Theodosius, gave success to his de- 
signs, and he acquired the rights and title of a pa- 
triarch. 



CENTURY FIFTH. 133 

Thus was the Christian world distributed in this cen- 
tury, into five patriarchates, to which some have added 
the sixth, of Seleucia and Ctesiphon. The power of 
the patriarch, in general, extended to the consecration 
of the bishops of their respective provinces, to the con- 
vocation of councils, and pronouncing a definition sen- 
tenced when bishops were accused. All the provinces; 
however, did not bow to their authority. For the sake 
of augmenting their power, the patriarchs too often en- 
couraged the numerous orders of monks, in opposition " 
to their bishops ;* and they in return strove to exalt 
their respective patrons. To these evils was added 
the rivalship of the patriarchs themselves. The bishop 
of Byzantium, especially, strove upon the one hand, to 
bring under his control the patriarchs of Antioch and 
Alexandria, and on the other, to invade the rights of 
the Roman pontiff. But this powerful prelate maintain- 
ed his cause with vigor, and improved the circumstan- 
ces of the times. Many of the oriental bishops, op- 
pressed by their powerful neighbors, found in him a 
ready friend, and thus added to the dignity and rank of 
the Romish Church, by the frequency of their appeals. 
The increasing imbecility, moreover, of the western 
empire, contributed to augment the authority and 
enlarge the powers of the Roman bishops. Among 
them all, there is none who more boldly or successfully 
contended for the dignity of his see, than Leo, called 
the great. The bishops of this age, and particularly 



* ^several councils, particularly that of Chalcedon, (C an. 4 and 8) subjected 
all monasteries to the jurisdiction of the biihop, in whose diocese they werg« 



134 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

those of the first rank, created around themselves a 
species of courts. The order of presbyters kept pace 
in grandeur with their bishops ; and the acts of several 
councils, sufficiently attest, how far the deacons had 
begun to imitate the errors and ambition of their supe- 
riors. The monks by degrees were distinguished from, 
the people, and obtained an eminent station in the 
Christian community. Such was their credit for holi- 
ness and sanctity, that bishops and presbyters were 
chosen out of their order, nor was there any end to the 
buildings erected for the purpose of affording accommo- 
dation to these men, and to the pious virgins, who dedi- 
cated their lives to the service of God. All the monastic 
orders did not follow the same discipline. Some ob- 
served the rules of Austin, and others, those of Basil. 
Anthony, Athanasius, and Pacomius But the laws of 
their founders must have been illy observed, for even 
in this age, the licentiousness of monks had grown in f c 
3 proverb. 



CHAPTER III. 

DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH. 

Its Condition and Writers. 

§1. Not a few of the most important and fundamen 
tal articles of the Christian faith, for example, concerning 
the nature and person of our blessed redeemer, the in- 
nate depravity of the human heart, the necessity of grace, 
and freedom of the will, were treated of and explained 



CENTURY FIFTH. 135 

With greater activity and zeal, than they had hitherto been. 
But the clouds of superstition began now to grow darker. 
The aid of the departed righteous was every where in- 
voked, and a species of worship paid them. Their 
sepulchres were visited by suppliant multitudes ; for it 
was there that their souls were supposed to hover with 
delight. The images of departed saints, received an ho- 
mage the most reverential, because it was supposed, that 
the celestial beings they represented, would honor them 
with their presence.* A singular degree of efficacy was. 
attributed to the bones of the martyrs, and to the sign of 
the cross, in repelling the assaults of demons, in cur- 
ing the diseases of the body, and in giving relief to the 
sufferings of the mind. The pagan became the ground- 
work of many Christian superstitions. From the ancient 
and cherished notions, concerning demons and heroes, 
and the existence of souls departed, sprung the public 
supplications, the holy pilgrimages, the superstitious ser- 
vices paid to departed souls, the doctrines of purgatory, 
the multiplication of temples, of altars, of garments, 
and a multitude of circumstances which demonstrated 
the decline of genuine piety 

Although fewer pens were employed in this century, 
than hitherto, in expounding the sacred volume, there 
were some who engaged in this useful occupation, with 
credit to themselves, and advantage to the church. 
Among these may be mentioned, Theodoret of Cyrus, 
and Theodore of Mopsuetia. To these may well be 



Floury Disc. curl'Hist. Ecclesias* iii. p. 



JjO ecclesiastical history. 

joined St. Cyril of Alexandria,* and Isidore of Peliisium, 
the disciple of St Chrysostom. It is the fault of this 
age, that its writers overlooked, in explaining the scrip- 
tures, the plain meaning of words, and sought for hidden 
mysteries. The principal design of the Greek and 
Latin commentators, seemed to be the discovery of typi- 
cal allusions to Christ, or to Anti-Christ, and to the wars 
and desolations which the latter was to bring upon the 
earth. Isidore of Pelusium, and Theodore of Mopsue- 
tia vigorously opposed themselves to this scheme of criti- 
cism. Theodore not only composed a boojt concerning 
allegory and history against Origen, but in a commen- 
tary on the prophets, applied most of their predictions 
to events of ancient history. Theology in general was 
made to rest more on the authorities of ancient doctors, 
and the opinions of learned men, than on the unerring 
dictates of the inspired word. No complete system of 
divinity was drawn up, unless we except the six books of 
instructions to Neophytes, written by Nicaeas. The 
polemic writers of this age, were exceedingly numerous. 
Theodoretj attacked the pagans, Orientius, Evagrius, 
Philip Sedctes, and Philostorgius, drew their pens in the 
same cause. Basil of Seleucia, Gregentius, and Evag- 
rius, exposed the cavils of the Jews, Voconius the Afri- 
can, Gennadius of Marseilles, Syagrius and Theodore t, 
opposed the different sects. Agreeable to the custom 



* This bishop is known for his zealous maintenance of clerical rights, oppo- 
[-ition to Nestorins, and opinion in favor of calling the blessed virgin the 
mother of God 

t Theodoret also ^rote an ecclesiastical history from x\rius to T-beod 
junior. * 



CENTURY FIFTH. lo7 

of the Roman tribunals, religious disputes were more 
frequently determined by the opinions of some writers ot" 
a preceding age, than by any intrinsic weight of evidence 
or reason. This method of deciding truth by reference to 
human authorities, became the fruitful source of many 
spurious productions. Eucherius, (so eminent for an 
epistle concerning contempt of the world and secular 
philosophy,) Salvianus, Nilus, Marcus the eremite, Fas- 
tidius, Diadochus, Prosper, and Severianus, are the prin- 
cipal moral writers.* 

Of the Mystics. 

§2. The Mystics of this century, who wished to appear 
more perfect than other Christians, drew over multi- 
tudes of the ignorant, as imitators of their singular and 
austere mode of devotion. They were wont to prolong 
their miserable existence upon no other nutriment than 
grass and wild herbs. They ran naked through lonely 
deserts, remained motionless in certain places for seve- 
ral years, or would shut themselves up in miserable 
huts, and die in the conceit, that thus they had rendered 
an acceptable service and devotion to God. Of all the 
kinds of fanatics, none have been more celebrated than 
those who were called Stylites, from living on the tops 



* Among the eminent writers of this century, must not be forgotten Soera 
tes, who wrote an ecclesiastical history from the year 309, where Eusebius left 
off, to 440 ; and Sozomen, who wrote at the same time and on the same period 
with Socrates, though not with equal skill. His epitome from the birth of 
our Saviour to the year 323 is no longer extant. The Commonitory against 
the heretics, of Vincentius of Lyra, is in great esteem among the learned! 
It has been translated by Reeres in his apology for the Father?. 
12 



138 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

of pillars, exposed to the rigor and inclemency of the 
seasons ; and, what was perhaps a still greater induce- 
ment, to the gaze and admiration of an ignorant multi- 
tude. The inventor of this strange and ridiculous dis- 
cipline, was Simeon, by birth a Syrian, originally a 
shepherd, and afterwards a monk. To bring himself 
nearer heaven, says Theodoret the historian, he erected 
successively five different pillars of varying heights, and 
so passed his life with the highest veneration of a super- 
stitious age. 

Controversies. 

§3. It was one of the evil consequences of these 
mystical rules and doctrines, that more regard was paid 
to the external parts of religion, than was shown in 
forming the heart and affections to inward piety 
and solid virtue. Those who opposed the mo- 
nastic superstitions, were denounced as enemies to 
devotion. An example of this, was found in the case of 
V r igilantius, a presbyter ; who, for censuring the hom- 
age paid to the bones of martyrs, and the pilgrimages to 
holy spots, was so harshly used by Jerome the monk, as 
to find that his safety could only be secured by silence. 
The name of the worthy and excellent Vigilantius, is 
still classed in the list of heretics. The controversy 
concerning the estimation in which Origen and his doc- 
trine ought to be held, extended itself through Europe. 
Asia, and Africa. The Nitrian monks who were driven 
from Egypt, in consequence of the attachment they 
still retained for that learned and wonderful man, had 
sought, and had gained, tlio protection of Chr} 



CENTURY FIFTH. 139 

bishop of Constantinople. This patronage of the east- 
ern patriarch, gave offence to Theophilus, primate of 
Alexandria. Chrysostom was in consequence condemn- 
ed hy a council assembled at the Oaks, under the influ- 
ence of Theophilus and the empress Eudoxia ; and after 
an exile of three years, died, in consequence of the treat- 
ment he received, from the soldiers appointed to re- 
move him to an extreme distance from the capital, the 
scene of his dangerous popularity. Had Chrysostom 
refrained from becoming an umpire in the controversy 
between Theophilus and his refractory monks, his con- 
duct were unimpeachable. On the death of their patron,, 
the Nitrian monks were restored to the favor of the 
Alexandrian bishop ; but the faction of Or igenists, still 
flourished in Egypt, and the neighboring countries, till 
the final condemnation of the Pelagian heresy threw a 
shade over the name and merits of their founder. 



CHAPTER IV. 

HISTORY OF RITES AND CEREMONIES. 

The public worship of God was now daily rising, from 
one degree of pomp to another. A variety of useless 
and splendid ornaments were added to the sacerdotal 
vestments. New acts of devotion were celebrated an 
new forms of supplication invented. In France, Mamer- 
cus instituted, for the first time, the Rogation fast days be- 
fore Ascension.* Every diocese, as yet, had the power 

* Litanies, at first, xvere not fixed to any stated time, but were employed as 



140 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

of ordering, making, and changing its own rites. Inno- 
cent, bishop of Rome, was the first who ventured, at the 
opening of the century, to demand that all Churches 
should conform to the Romish ritual.* In some places, 
perpetual praises were offered to God, by successive com- 
panies of singers, who succeeded each other in such a 
manner, that the service suffered no interruption. The 
Churches were ornamented, with rich and splendid ima- 
ges of holy persons, among which during the troubles oc- 
casioned by the Nestorians, that of the Virgin Mary, 
holding the infant Saviour in her arms, bore a permanent 
place. The Agapae or feasts of charity, in consequence 
of the abuses to which they gave occasion, were very 
properly suppressed. Leo the great, abolished at Rome 
the public confession, which had hitherto been required 
from all grievous offenders, and substituted in its place 
another, which might be made in private to the priest. 
By this means the rigor of the ancient ecclesiastical dis- 
cipline was greatly diminished, but the influence of the 
clergy, and their power over the consciences of men. 
were in proportion augmented. 



exigencies required. A'nout the year 400, they began to be used in processions 
the people walking barefoot, and repeating them, with great devotion. The day* 
in which they were used were called rogation days, dud by degrees the}- came 
to be used on Wednesdays and Fridays, the stated days for fasting. To these the 
Church of England has added Sunday Before the last review of her common 
prayer-book, the Litany was a distinct service, and used some time after tl e 
morning-prayer was over. 
* Augustin in epist. 1 18. or according to the Benedictive, 54 c, 3. 



CENTURY FIFTH. 141 

CHAPTER V. 

HISTORY OF HERESIES. 

Remains of old Sects. 

1. Some of the ancient sects still endeavored to 
raise new troubles in the Church. Not to mention the 
Novalians, Marcionites, and Manicheans, the Donatists 
-ought to gain, by force of arms and public tumults, the 
influence they could not procure, by reason and argu- 
ment. To put a stop to the outrages committed by the 
Circumcelliones, and to the injuries sustained by the 
Church from the Donatists, (particularly in the African 
provinces,) a council was calied at Carthage, anno 404 ; 
at whose earnest solicitation the emperor Honorius issued 
against their faction several edicts, entitled acts of nni~ 
formity. Their strength and their courage were revived, 
and especially by a new law promulgated by Honorius, 
anno 409, against all kinds of compulsion in matters of 
religion. On the abrogation of this law, Marcellinus, 
the tribune, as representative of the emperor, in a sol- 
emn meeting of two hundred and ninety-six Cath- 
olic, and UvoJiundred and twenty-nine Donatist bishops, 
anno 411, and after an audience of three days, decid- 
ed in favor of the former. By tiiis meeting held at Car- 
thage, and by the zealous labors of St. Austin, the pow- 
er of the Donatists was prostrated. Against the contuma- 
cious, severe penalties were enacted, and against the se- 
ditions, the punishment of death was enforced. The 
Circumcelliones took up arms, and exhibited their obsti- 
12* 



142 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

nacy by a series ofatrocious cruelties. The power of the 
Donatists was once more restored by the Vandals, who, 
anno 427, under Genseric their monarch, made a con- 
quest of Africa. But notwithstanding this favorable turn 
in their affairs, they never recovered from the shock of the 
imperial edicts. The Arian heresy had obtained a firm 
footing among the Goths, Heruli, Suevi, Vandals and 
Burgundians. These barbarous people persecuted in va- 
rious ways, and with excessive severity, throughout Spain, 
Germany, Africa, and other provinces, the adherents of 
the Nicene faith. Genseric, the Vandal monarch, and 
his son Hunerie, destroyed their Churches and exercised 
the utmost cruelties against them. In the midst of these 
calamities, God is said to have evidenced the truth of the 
Trinitarian doctrine, by an astonishing miracle performed 
in its behalf. Some of those who professed the doctrine, 
having had their tongues cut out by the Arian tyrants, 
were enabled to articulate, and proclaim the glory of their 
Lord. The fact is attested by witnesses unexceptiona- 
ble, but whether it were owing to a supernatural power, 
is a much disputed point. 

Nestor ians and Eutychians. 

§2. Anastasius, a priest of Constantinople, had se- 
verely declaimed, anno 428, against the Apollinarian 
expression of Theotokos (©soroxos) mother of God, as 
applied to the Virgin Mary. His opinion was highly 
approved by Nestorius his bishop, who at the same time 
declared his preference for the word Christotokos 
(Xfitfroroxoc:) mother of Christ, as applicable to the 
Virgin. This idea was so interpreted, as if Nestorius 



CENTURY FIFTH. 143 

held denied the communion of the divine and human 
nature in Christ. Cyril, at this time bishop of Alexan- 
dria, publicly censured Nestorius, and the monks his 
adherents. Cyril was in his turn accused by Nestoriusof 
confounding the natures of Christ ; and when, seconded 
by Celestine, bishop of Rome, in a council at Alexan- 
dria, anno 430, he hurled at Nestorius no less than 
twelve anathemas, they were as warmly returned by 
his indignant opponent. To terminate this dispute a 
general council was assembled at Ephesus, by Theodo- 
sius the younger. At this council presided Cyril, the 
avowed adversary of Nestorius. Compared to the traitor 
Judas, the latter was condemned without being heard, 
and sent into exile, where he finished his days. The 
doctrine established in the council of Ephesus, is the 
Catholic doctrine; but many have thought that the 
sentiments of the council and those of Nestorius, were 
but differently expressed, and in reality the same. The 
decrees of this council were far from settling the 
controversy. The oriental prelates, who had been ab- 
sent, on arriving at Ephesus, pronounced against Mera- 
non, the bishop of that city, and against Cyril, a sen- 
tence as severe as the latter had found against Nestorius, 
and rescinded their acts. In the eastern provinces, the 
Nestorians experienced the most favorable reception, 
and their sentiments were embraced by the doctors 
who flourished in the long famous school of Edessa.* 
But of all those who favored the Nestorian cause, and 
exerted themselves in its behalf, none are more em- 

* They translated the works of Nestorius with those of his master Theo- 
dora of MopeFuetia, and of Diodorus of Tarsus, into Syriac, and spread 
them abroad through Assyria and Persia. 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

inent than Barsumas, once a pupil of the Edesene 
school, and made bishop of Nisibis, anno 435. He 
not only persuaded the Persian monarch, Pheroze>. 
to expel from his kingdom all those who adopted the 
opinions of the Greeks, but also to put theNestorians in 
possession of the principal cities, those of Seleucia and 
Ctesiphon. The zealous Barsumas also founded a 
school at Nisibis, from which issued in this and the fol- 
lowing age, skilful champions in the cause, who spread 
the Nestorian doctrine through Egypt, Syria, iVrabia. 
Tndia, Tartary, and even China. 

In several councils assembled at Seleucia, it was set- 
tled by the Nestorians, as an article of general faith. 
that Christ was compounded of two natures, or hypos* 
tascs (ytfo(f<ru<fsis ;) that of both these hypostases there 
was but one aspect, (V^oVwtfov ;) that there was no com- 
bination of nature or person, but only of will ; and that 
Mary the virgin, should only be called the mother of 
Christ. 

Many, in avoiding the faults of Ncstorius, unhappily 
rushed into the opposite extreme. The more no- 
ted of these is Eutyches, an abbot of Constantinople. 
Vt an advanced stage of life, he taught, that in Christ 
there teas but one nature, namely, that of the incarnate 
word. This error, which militated against the humani- 
ty of our redeemer, was condemned by Flavianus, in a 
council assembled at Constantinople, anno 448. Euty- 
ches himself, was excommunicated and deposed ; but 
appealing to a general council, there was one assembled 
at Ephesus in the following year, by Theodosius the 
younger. By the artifices of its president, Diosco- 



CEXTUSY FIFTH. 1 i. 

ins of Alexandria, the doctrine of one incarnate natnrr 
became triumphant. Flavianus was scouigpd, and the* 
banished for lifo. This council is usually called by the 
Grpcks ? the cfuvodos Xyju-pjxr), or assembly of robbers. 
But the banished Flavianus enlisted on his side the Ro- 
man pontiff, Leo, and persuaded Marcianus the empe- 
ror, to assemble the fonrth ecumenical council, at 
Chalcedon, anno 451. In this famous assembly, at 
which the legates of Leo presided, the acts which had 
passed at Ephesus in favor of Eutyches, were finally 
rescinded, and a formula was drawn up, in which it was 
settled as an article of faith, that two distinct natures 
were united in one person in Christ, without mixture or 
confusion. The friends of Eutyches were determined 
to push matters to the extreme. In Egypt, where the 
party had obtained an ascendancy, they massacred Pro- 
terius, who had been put in place of the banished Dios- 
corus ; and in Syria and Mesopotamia, Barsumas, an 
abbot, procured the cause of Eutyches a number of 
friends. Shortly after these events, Peter Gnaphaeus. 
or Fullo, an Eutychean in his sentiments, usurped the 
see of Antioch. In conjunction with Philoxenus, bish- 
op of Hierapolis, he modified the expressions which 
were hitherto used by his party, and rejecting at the 
same time, the formula of the council of Chalcedon. 
affirmed that in Christ there was indeed only one nature, 
but double and compounded. This same contentious 
man, had appended to the expression, O God most holy 
in the Trisaguim, the words, who suffered for us on the 
cross, which appeared to his opponents, and especially 
Felix, bishop of Rome, as an avowal that all the persons 



ECCLESIASTICAL BISTORT. 

in the Trinity suffered crucifixion. The followers of 
1 ullo, wort hence called ThcopaschittSy which are usu- 
ally esteemed a particular branch f Eutycheans. This 
formulary of Fullo was, however, used hy the Svrians 
without any offence, as solely applicable to Christ. To 
compose these dissentions, Zeno, the emperor, anno 
482, ordered a formula to be drawn up, adapted to the 
views of both the contending parties. This decree, 
called Henoticon, confirmed the acts of the councils of 
Nice, Constantinople, Ephesus, and Chalcedon, without 
naming the last, and satisfied the minds of many Euty- 
cheans. A large body of the Monophysites, in conse- 
quence of finding themselves abandoned by Moggus, 
bishop of Alexandria, who had owned the Henoticon. 
established a new faction under the title of Acephali. as 
an en abandoned of their chief. This sect became divi- 
ded into Anthropomorphites, Barsanuphites y Esaia- 
?iists. and many others, differing less in reality than 
words. Felix III. bishop of Rome, excommunicated 
Acacius, patriarch of Constantinople, a friend of the 
Henoticon. His pretext for this, was the inclination 
Acacius shewed for the Monophysites, and their lead- 
ers, Moggus and Fullo, joined with a contempt of the 
decrees which had passed at the council of Chalcedon. 
The determined boldness of Felix was finally victori- 
ous, and the names of Fullo and Acacius were expunged 
from the diptychs.* Eutyches is charged with having 



* The diptychs, or ecclesiastical tablet, were catalogues of their name? 
who had well governed or served the church and nere read at the ; Jr:?e uf 



CENTURY FIFTH. 14? 

afiirmed that the divine nature of Christ absorbed the 
human, and consequently that Christ consisted but of 
one nature, and that nature the divine. The Monoplry- 
sites maintained the doctrines of Fullo. With Eutyches 
himself, they disclaimed an alliance, but held in the 
highest reverence Dioscorus, Barsumas, Philoxenus. 
and Fullo, and rejected the decrees of the council of 
Chalcedon. 

Pelagian Controversy. 

$3, Pelagius and Ccelestius, men of amiable lives, 
the former a monk of Britain, and the other of Ireland, 
began to preach at Rome, that man needed no divine 
assistance, to enable him to live according to God ? s 
divine commands. They also maintained that the sins 
of our first parents were imputed to them alone, and 
that we at this day are born as pure and as holy, as 
Adam was before the fall.* 

Being driven from Rome by their dread of the Goths, 
who attacked the city, anno 410, they passed over into 
Africa, and there preached their tenets with greater 
boldness. Pelagius afterwards went into Palestine, 
while Coelestius sought to procure a place among the 
Carthagenian bishops. Condemned in the council of 
Carthage, anno 412, the latter passed into the East. 
From this period, Augustine the renowned bishop of 
Hippo, attacked the sentiments of these monks with all 
his eloquence and learning, and with the utmost success. 
But under the protection of John, bishop of Jerusalem, 



* It is somewhat singular that Pe] led such efficacy to baptism 

as to deriy salvation without it. 



US ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

Pelagius continued to propagate his error, and not 
only passed uncensured by a council assembled at 
Jerusalem, to examine his cause, but, subsequently at 
another held at Diosipolis, was fully acquitted of all er- 
ror in doctrine. The controversy was at length re- 
ferred to Zozimus, who, anno 417? had been made bishop 
of Rome. Deceived by the ambiguity of a confession 
of faith which Ccelestius had drawn up, as he was as 
by the arts and protestations of Pelagius, this pon- 
tiff at first decided in their favor, but at last pronounced 
against the monks, a severe and formal decision. The} 7 
were again condemned by the council assembled at 
Ephesus, anno 431, while the Gauls, Britons, and Af- 
ricans, alike united in crushing the sect in its infanc\\ 
by their councils, the decrees of emperors, and penal 
laws. From these unhappy dissentions arose others 
equ* lly injurious to the peace of the Church. Augustin 
had given in some way, occasion to the monks of Adru- 
mctium, and others in Gaul, of resolving the divine 
decrees into a fatal necessity, not only of eternal pun- 
ishments, but also of all human actions and things. 
This sect of predestinarians, ( whose existence however 
is denied by some of the learned,) was suppressed by 
the councils of Aries and Lyons. 

Anew modification was given to Augustin's doctrine 
by Cassian the monk. About the year 430, he began 
to teach, that in the work of salvation, one part belong- 
ed to God, and another to man. He denied the neces- 
sity of inward preventing grace for this work of re- 
pentance, faith, and a holy life, though it might some- 
times be granted, For continuance, however, in god- 



CENTURY FIFTH. 149 

liness, grace, according to him, was absolutely necessary, 
flic sentiments of Cassian, whose disciples were how- 
ever known as Semi- Pelagians, were highly agreeable 
lo the notions of many, and especially the monks ; and 
as neither Austin nor his followers had ventured to pro- 
nounce its entire condemnation, it took a deep root, 
and was widely diffused. In this controversy we have 
the ground work of all those disputes concerning the 
power of divine grace which have agitated the 
Church and still continue to perplex the minds of so 
many Christians in our day. 



13 



CENTURY SIXTH* 

CHAPTER I. 

OUTWARD STATE OF THE CIRRCH 

Progress of the Church. 

§ 1. Many of the barbarous nations, particularly fcfig 
who inhabited the shores of the Pontus Euxinus, were 
converted to the Christian cause. Among them were the 
Abasgi, Heruli, Alani, Lazi, and Cani, who if not com- 
pletely initiated in the faith, were yet brought to abstain 
from the worship of idols. Although there remained in some 
parts of the Greek empire, and even in the heart of Con- 
stantinople itself, many, who still addicted themselves to 
the rites of pagan worship, their numbers were daily and 
rapidly on the* decline. Remigius, bishop of Rheims, the 
Apostle of the Gauls, was daily adding to the Church of 
that people such as should be saved. By the labors of 
Augustin, who with forty other Benedictive monks, had 
been sent by Gregory the great on a mission to Britain, 
anno 596, the Anglo-Saxons were induced to renounce 
the superstitions they had brought with them to that 
country. The work of conversion was greatly promoted 
by Ethelbert, King of Kent, who had previously been 
rendered favorable to the Christian cause by the pious 
zeal of his wife Bertha. Columbas an Irish monk, effect- 
ed, according to Bede, the conversion of the Picts and 



CENTURY SIXTH. 151 

>t3. la Germany, the Bohemians, Thuringians, and 
Boii, embraced the faith of the Gospel. It must be con- 
fessed however tiiatmanyof these conversions were more 
in name than reality. By the efforts of the emperor Jus- 
tinian, of Gregory, and of Avitus bishop of Vienna, amul- 
titudeof the Jews were induced throughout Syria, France, 
and Spain, to receive the truths of the gospel. In both the 
latter countries, many of the Jews were compelled to re- 
ceive the rite of baptism. This highly reprehensible 
practice was discountenanced by Gregory, who though 
severe upon heretics, would suffer no violence to be offered 
the Jews. That many of these conversions may be laid 
to the account of fictitious miracles, the authority of 
princes, the hopes of reward, and the fear of punishment, 
can hardly be questioned, but in many on the other 
hand, the finger of God can be evidently traced. 

Trials of the Church* 

§ 2. Not only did many illustrious persons continue to 
profess the ancient worship of the Roman empire, as the 
famous Tribonian compiler of the Roman law, Procopius 
the historian, and Agathias the civilian ; but those of the 
Platonic school inculcated in their scholars without fear, 
precepts opposed to Christianity. Chalcidius, a Platonic 
Christian, and Alexander of Lycopolis, acted thus with 
moderation, while Damascius, Simplicius, Proclus, and 
many others, boldly published their sentiments and dislike 
of the gospel. In the earlier part of the century, the Ar> 
glo-Saxons involved the former inhabitants of Britain, 
who had long professed the gospel faith, in. the deepest 



LSS ecclesiastical history. 

distresses. The Hunns who had made a successful irrup- 
> tion into Thrace and Greece, treated the Christians from 
motives of policy, with an excessive degree of cruelty. 
But of all the persecutions which disturbed the Church in 
this century, none exceeded in severity that of Chosroes. 
the Persian monarch. This impious man not only com- 
mitted outrages against the Christians themselves, but 
publicly avowed his determination to wage a war against, 
their God, and to exterminate their religion. 



CHAPTER II. 

STATE OF LEARNING AND TEACHERS. 

Of Learning. 

§ 1. The incursions of so many and barbarous nations, 
as broke in upon the western provinces of the Roman em- 
pire, had proved the destruction of every kind of learning, 
but for the refuge which it still found, among bishops and 
monks. To most of the cathedral* Churches schools 
were appended for the instruction of youth in studies pre- 
paratory to that of the Scriptures. By the rules of their 
order, the monks were obliged to devote a part of every 
day to the reading of ancient writers, and those who were 
unable to attend to agriculture, were assiduously employ- 
ed in transcribing works of merit. To the labors of these 



* So called because in those Churches the bishops had a Cathedra er elexa* 
•d throne. Big. Ec. Orig. 8, 6. 10. 



i i:\~tuhy sixth. 1^§ 

men, we arc indebted for the transmission of those inval- 
uable remains of ancient wisdom and genius, which are 
the delight of our times. But our praise of the labors 
of either bishops or monks, must not be indiscriminate. 
Many preferred an inglorious ease, to all the delights of 
knowledge ; others cloaked ignorance under the pre- 
text, that science might prove injurious to godliness. Gre- 
cian learning was neglected. Professed rhetoricians were 
little more than declaimers, without force of argument or 
eloquence of words. The study of grammar was made 
to consist, more in subtleties and quibbles than in any at- 
tention to propriety of language. Bcethius alone, privy 
councellor to Theodoric king of the Ostragoths, can be 
said to have adorned, or even cultivated among the Latins, 
a taste for philosophy. The learning of the East was in 
a more flourishing state than that of the West. At 
the opening of the century, the Platonic philosophy 
was still triumphant. The Alexandrian and Athenian 
schools had continued to flourish under Damascius, Isi- 
dore, Simplicius, Eulamius, Hermias, Priscian and others, 
till an edict of Justinian aimed against the Platonists, 
compelled these famous masters to retire into Persia, from 
whence they returned but to die in obscurity. The fall of 
the Platonic philosophy was the rise of the Aristotelian. 
Hence numerous translations of the Stagyrite, were 
made into different languages, and the utmost degree of 
reverence was paid to his decisions. Some however were 
found, who struck out for themselves doctrines different 
alike from those of Aristotle and Plato ; among whom 
may be mentioned Cosmas, commonly called Indico- 

plenstes. 

13* 



154 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORV. 

Of the Clergy and Monks. 

§2. The patriarchs of the East and West, contended, 
without cessation, which should have the pre-eminence 
It happened that John, the prelate of Constantinople, 
anno 587, in a council assembled by his own authority, 
had assumed the title of ecumenical bishop. Suspecting, 
from the time and circumstances, rather than the fact, 
that John had in his view an augmentation of power, 
Gregory, the Roman pontiff, opposed his title and his 
object, with vigorous resolution, and endeavored at the 
same time to extend his own authority. It was now 
that one Eunodius, a flatterer of the ecclesiastical pow- 
er of Rome, went so far as to call its pontiff, a judge 
in the place of the Most High. But the Gothic con- 
querers of Italy maintained their right to give a sanc- 
tion to the choice of the Roman bishop, and to enact 
spiritual laws. They were accordingly feared ; nor 
had the pontiffs yet ventured to demand the submis- 
sion of Kings and Princes to their authority. 

The superstition of the people w T as increasing more 
and more. The idea was become prevalent, and en- 
couraged by the clergy, that sins might be atoned for by 
donations to churches and liberality to monks. That the 
bishops of Rome cannot be excepted from the gen- 
eral censure which attaches itself to the sacred order, 
is plain, from that long and vehement dispute which 
arose in the year 498, between Symmachus and Lau- 
rentius,* each of whom affirmed, that he was lawful 

* Laurentius is considered by the Romanists as Anti-pope. 



CENTURY SIXTH. Ijj 

bishop, and challenged his adversary with detestable 
crimes. Three councils having been held ineffectually 
on the subject, Theodoric the Goth at last ordered, in 
a fourth, that Symmachus should be acquitted. 

In all parts of the Christian world, the number and 
credit of the monks were greatly on the rise. In 
Britain, a certain Abbot named Cougal, induced multi- 
tudes to retire from all active employments, and lead 
solitary lives according to certain rules he had framed 
for their government.* In the year 539 ; Benedict of 
Nursia, became the founder of a monastic order, which 
absorbed in a measure, all the others of the West* 
Those who were willing to conform to his rule, were 
directed to spend their time, in acts of holiness and devo- 
tion, to divide it between the duties of prayer, reading, 
labor, and the instruction of youth. Such was the 
happy commencement of the Benedictine order. But 
in process of time, the vast increase of their wealth 
brought with it a train of vices. They became famous for 
their political skill and acquaintance with court in- 
trigues, and few orders have labored with greater zeal 
and success, to augment the power and authority of the 
Roman pontiff. Their degeneraey however, was no 
bar to their growing credit. The Benedictines them- 
selves, attribute their success to the sanctity of their 
discipline ; but an impartial observer will suspect much 
of it to be owing to the favor of the great, and espe- 
cially of the Romish bishops. 



* Among CougaPs followers, the most-known isColumban, whose monas- 
\t rule is noted for simplicity. 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

CHAPTER III. 

THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH. 

Its condition and ivriters. 

1 . To the evils which sprung from the jarring inter- 
ests of different teachers, and the ignorance of those who 
professed to instruct, were added a blind and profound 
reverence for images, the worship of saints, the doctrine 
of purgatory, the power of good works to purchase sal- 
vation, and the efficacy of religion in diseases of the 
body as well as of the mind. 

Several attempts were made to lay down a judicious 
method of interpreting the Scriptures, such as those 
of Cassiodorus and Julianus an African. Among the 
Syrian teachers, Philoxemus translated into his native 
tongue, the books of the New Testament* and Psalms 
of David. Of the Greek commentators, the most emi- 
nent were Procopius of Gaza, Severus of Antioch, and 
Julianus. Of the Latins the most distinguished were 
Gregory, Cassiodorus, Primasius, Isidore of Seville, and 
Bellator. With the exception of some kw, almost all 
these interpreters may be divided into two classes. The one 
did nothing more than collect the opinions of former wri- 
ters in Catenas or chains. The other slid insensibly 
into the allegorising method of Origen. The mode, such 
as it was, of explaining the Christian doctrine of this cen- 



* This Philoxenian version must be distinguished from the old or Peschito 
/mi oik to which it is inferior for critical purposes. 



CENTURY SIXTH. lo7 

ttry, was of three kinds. Some collected together the 
sentiments of doctors and councils on particular points, 
and supported them by scripture passages This species 
of divinity was afterwards distinguished by the name of 
positive theology. A second class endeavored to ex- 
plain the Christian doctrine by arguments and reasoning. 
This was subsequently characterized as scholastic divin- 
ity. A third kind were those denominated mystics, who 
maintained that divine truth could only be obtained by 
feeling and contemplation 

Those who were desirous of advancing the cause of prac- 
tical religion by precepts, proposed rules for the external 
virtues, to such as wore' engaged in the business of life. 
Those on the other hand, who sought by examples to en- 
force the duties of Christianity, composed the lives of 
Saints, or rather to speak properly, framed fabulous ac- 
counts of the extraordinary feats of madmen. 

Controversies. 

§2. Many writers labored to explain the reigning con- 
troversies, but none with success. Scarce one can be 
found, who, honestly, with sobriety, and modesty, has op- 
posed the various errors of the Eutycheans, Nestorians, 
and Pelagians. The writings of Origen were still in very 
high repute, among the Syrian and Palestine monks. 
Mennasj the eastern patriarch, was ordered to put an 
edict in force against doctrines contained in them. The 
fifth general council, assembled at Constantinople, anno 
553, confirmed the emperor's edict and passed sentence 
against Origen. The sentence of this council was also 
called for on another dispute which had grown out of the 



168 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

former. In attempting to extirpate the sect of the Acephali 
Justinian had applied himself to Theodore of Cesa- 
rea, at the same time a Monophysite, and attached to Oi- 
gen's doctrine. This politic prelate, who thought the 
moment favorable for casting a reproach on the council 
of Chalcedon, and inflicting a wound on the Nesxorian 
cause, persuaded the emperor, that the Acephali would 
return to the bosom of the church, provided those wri- 
tings of Theodore the Mopsuetian, Theodoret of Cyrus, 
and Ibas of Edessa, commonly distinguished as the three 
chapters, should be condemned and prohibited. The com- 
pliance of the emperor was displeasing to the Ulyrian 
and African bishops. Their withdrawal on the same 
account, from the communion of Vigilius the Roman 
pontiff, until he recanted his stntin :.ents, occasioned 
Justinian a second time to condemn the three chapters, 
and subsequently to assemble, anno 553, the council of 
Constantinople. Beside prohibiting Origen's doctrines, 
this ecumenical council confirmed the edicts which were 
issued against the three chapters, and its decrees were at 
last sanctioned by the fickle Vigilius, and his successor 
Pelagius. 

Previous to these dissentions among the Greeks, the 
question was started, anno 529, whether it ivas proper 
to say that one of the Trinity suffered on the cross. This 
mode of expression was condemned by the pontiff Hor- 
misdas, and others, as allied to the error of the Theo- 
paschites or Eutycheans ; but John II. and the fifth gener- 
al council decided in favor of the affirmative side of the 
question. To this subject of debate, there was another 
appended; ichcther the person of Christ could be con* 



CENTURY SIXTH 1 . 15P 

sidcred as compounded ; the affirmative of which ffns 
maintained by the Scythian monks, and as firmly oppo- 
sed by others. 



CHAPTER IV. 

HISTORY OF RITES. 

In 'the West, the Roman bishop, Gregory the great. 
displayed a wonderful ingenuity in devising new ceremo- 
nies. The words of the sacred writings, were in his 
opinion, the images of mysterious things, and hence he 
was led to express religious precepts by external svm- 
bols. The public worship was as yet celebrated in the 
proper tongue of every nation,* but was somewhat en- 
larged by various additions, which were thought condu- 
cive to inflame the spirit of devotion. Gregory prescri- 
bed a new mode of administering the Lord's Supper, 
called the Canon of the Mass. The litanies addressed 
to Saints, the various kinds of supplications, the sta- 
tions of Gregory, the various forms of consecration, 
would themselves require a volume for an accurate 
description. 

The building of churches began to be esteemed one 
of the best means of propitiating the favor of heaven ; 
and hence it came to pass, that innumerable buildings 
were reared to the memory of tutelary saints, in every 



* 'Ey reus wjc&tfoi fj.iv "zhXvvz; \x\wiH.tIc %j£>v*dLi x U cfl 'ixuxtn, 
fauxiKcis, Orig, cor. eels, l. 8, p. 402. 



1G0 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

pjtvt of the Christian world. To this century we owe 
the festival called the Purification* of the Virgin, that 
of the Annunciation, and that of St. John the baptist. 



CHAPTER V. 

HISTORY OF HERESIES. 

The remains of ancient sects, particularly the Mani- 
i beans, Donatists, and Pelagians, still subsisted in this 
century. The Arians experienced a diversity of fortune. 
The Vandals and Goths openly maintained their cause; 
but when these barbarians were driven from Africa, 
and subsequently from Italy, the Orthodox became iu 
their turn triumphant. The other Arian princes were 
induced without violence to embrace the Nicene faith, 
and prevent any further progress among their subjects 
of the Arian heresy. The Nestorians had footing and 
numerous churches in every part of Persia, in India, 
Vi menia, Arabia, and Syria ; all of which were subject 
to the Patriarch of Seleucia. The Persian monarchs, 
especially, (with some few exceptions) were more par- 
tial to this sect, than to the other Christians who fa- 
vored the decrees of the Ephesine council. 

The faction of the Monophysites, or in other words 
Eutycheans, also drew into their train a great part of 
the East. When, on the death of Anastasius, its 
patron, anno 518, the sect was so depressed by Justin. 



» BtaCbtm*l»Kh Cave, refers this festival to the next century. 



CENTURY SIXTH. 10J 

•jliu! succeeding emperors, as to appear on the brink of 
ruin. It was once more restored to all its former lustre 
by an obscure individual, Jacob Baradaeus, or Zanza- 
lus. This indigent monk, raised to the episcopal office, 
by some captive bishops, every where established other 
bishops and presbyters, and left the sect at his death, 
(being then bishop of Edessa,) in a most flourishing con- 
dition throughout Syria;, Mesopotamia, Armenia, and 
Egypt. The Monophysites were not insensible to the 
merits of their chief; and they arc now known in the 
East, by the appellation of Jacobites. From the death 
of Baradaeus, the Monophysites have been placed under 
the government of two patriarchs ; Antioch being the 
seat of the one, and Alexandria of the other. The 
primate or Abbuna of the Abyssines, is subject to the 
latter ; the Maphranius or primate of the East, owes 
obedience to the former. Previous to the harmony 
thus established in the sect, Julian of Halicarnassus, 
anno 519? maintained, that our Saviour's body, from 
the moment in which it was assumed by the divine na- 
ture, became incapable of corruption. The followers 
of Julian were called Apthardocetce, Docetce, Pkanta 
siastcBy and Manicheans, because it was thought a con- 
sequence of their opinion, that the sufferings of our Sa- 
viour were only in appearance. Those who embraced 
an opposite opinion received from their adversaries the 
denomination of Phtartolatra, Ctistolatrai or Crcati- 
coles. Between these extremes, Philoxenus adopted a 
middle course. He held that our Saviour truly suffered 
those things which mankind are wont to sustain, yet 

not in his nature, but by an act of his will. Some of 
14 



162 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

the Creaticolae had broached the opinion that Christ; 
in his human nature, was sometimes ignorant of some 
things,* and the rest of the sect, in consequence, be- 
stowed on them the name of Agnoetcc. From these 
Monophysite divisions, sprung the sect of the Tritheists. 
whose author was John Ascunage, a Syrian and Mo- 
nophysite philosopher. He taught, that in one God 
there were three distinct natures absolutely equal and 
joined together by no essence. This opinion was illus- 
trated with very great acumen, by John Philoponus, a 
grammarian of Alexandria, from whom its followers de- 
rive the name of Philoponists. 

From the notions of this master, Conon of Tarsus 
differed in some respects, particularly in saying, that 
the body after death, though it might lose its nature, 
did not its form, which was to be restored whenever thi< 
mortal should put on immortality. 



* Archbishop Tillotson seems to me of this opiniou. Serm< exxlx to 1 
2, p. 171. 



CENTURY SEVENTH. 

CHAPTER I. 

OUTWARD STATE OP THE CHURCH, 

Progress of the Church. 

i. The Nestorians of the East endeavored, with 
unwearied constancy, to extend the Christian religion. 
Their zeal and their efforts were not without success* 
especially in China. The fact of this country having 
received, in this century, arid even previously, the light 
of the gospel, is established on testimony which may 
scarcely be doubted, although the proof were to be 
given up, which is derived from that celebrated monu- 
ment, discovered by the Jesuits at Sigan-fu. # The 
Greeks were prevented by their intestine dissentions. 
from enlarging the limits of the gospel faith. In the 
West, the six Anglo-Saxon kings were converted to the 
faith, and their example was followed throughout the 
whole of Britain. The credit of this victoty obtained 
by the cross, is principally due to Augustin and his 
monks, but something may well be given to the Chris- 
tian ladies of rank, who endeavored to imbue their 
idolatrous husbands with the spirit of the gospel. Co- 



* It was found in tbe year 1625, was erected in the year 781, and says that 
the gospel was preached in this country anno 636.— Jablonski Ec. His. p. 188. 



54 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

lumbanus. an Irish monk, having formerly converted 
Jhe people of Gaul, brought the name of a Saviour, id 
this century, among the Suevi, Boii, and Franks. Oi 
his companions in this work and labor of love, St. Gaul 
converted many of the Helvetii and Suevi ; and St. Kil- 
ian a Scotchman, brought multitudes of eastern Franks 
to embrace the gospel faith. Willibrord, with eleven com- 
panions, anno 690, passed over into Batavia, Friesland. 
and Westphalia, and planted in those countries the 
standard of the cross. Scarce any of the Jews in this 
century willingly embraced the gospel, though some, 
were compelled to make an outward profession, parties 
larly by the monarchs of Spain and of Gaul. 

Trials of the Church, and the Mahomedan Scour ge 

§2. The persecutions of the Persian monarchs, though 
severe, were of no long duration, the malicious pro- 
jects of the eastern Jews recoiled on themselves, and 
the few who attompted under the mask of Christianity 
to injure its cause, and restore the pagan worship, were 
too weak to succeed, and even too insignificant to be- 
thought worthy of punishment. But a new and the most 
formidable of all her enemies, arose to afflict the Church 
of our blessed redeemer, and for the punishment of her 
sins, during the reign of Heraclius, anno 612. This 
scourge made its appearance, in the person of Mahomet, 
an illiterate Arabian, but of the noble tribe of the Ko- 
reish, eloquent, determined, brave, and of consummate 
abilities. This renowned impostor proclaimed himself 
as a messenger sent from God to overthrow idolatrous 



century seventh: 165 

worship and purify the various religions then existing 1 
in the world, particularly that of the Arabians, the Jews, 
and Christians. His instrument of conversion was the 
sword. By a succession of victories, he compelled mul- 
titudes and even nations, especially those adjacent to 
Arabia, to profess obedience to the laws he promulga- 
ted, as from the mouth of the angel Gabriel, and which 
he denominated the Koran.* Elated by the amazing 
success which in a short time attended his efforts, he 
extended his views to the establishment of an empire. 
md found himself at deatti the undisputed master of all 
Arabia and most of the adjacent provinces. Ma- 
homet was equally a fanatic as an impostor. The causes 
which procured for his religion such rapid success, may 
be easily discerned. The terror of his arms, the offer 
which was universally extended to the vanquished, of 
the Koran, the tribute or the sword, and the adaptation 
of his religious code to oriental habits and manners, 
alike contributed to multiply the number of his follow- 
ers. To these causes may well be added the profound 
ignorance of the people he in general had to deal with, 
the vehement dissentions which existed among the 
Christians, the appearance of idolatry which the reign- 
ing admiration of images assumed, and the opening 
which was afforded to the extension of his conquests by 
the enmity which existed against the Greeks, in the bo- 
soms of the oppressed Nestorians and Monophysites, 
Upon the death of their founder, anno 632, the Mahom- 



* The flight of Mahomet from Mecca, anno 622, when his cause was at the 
owest, is cailgd the Hegira, and commences the Mahoraedan chronology 
14* 



166 



ECCLESIASTCAL HISTORY. 



etans still continued to extend their conquests and gain 
converts to their creed. Their victories were at first 
used with temperance and moderation ; but when pros- 
perity had created confidence, the Christians who re- 
mained in their dominions,were made to sustain a hea- 
vy yoke of bondage. The success however of the Mos- 
lem cause experienced a considerable check, from the 
divisions which arose immediately on the death of Ma- 
homet. Abubeker, the father-in-law, and Ali the son- 
in-law of the pretended prophet, disputed each other's 
claim to the empire he had founded. The whole sect 
was in consequence split into two inimical factions, call- 
ed Sonnites, and Schiites. The latter of these acknow- 
ledged Ali, and the former Abubeker, as the true and 
lawful calif or successor of Mahomet. Both received 
the Koran as a divine revelation ; to which the follow- 
ers of Ali would receive no addition whatever, while 
the others maintained, that the Sonna or oral law de- 
livered by Mahomet, was equally binding on all genu- 
ine Mussulmen. The Turks, Arabians, Tartars, Afri- 
cans, and Indian Mahometans, are numbered among 
the Sonnites ; while the subjects of the great Mogul, and 
the Persians, adhere to the cause of Ali. 



CHAPTER II. 

STATE OF LEARNING AND TEACHERS. 

Of Learning. 

§ 1. The barbarism of this age is almost incredible. 
Whatever science yet remained, was confined to the ob- 



CENTURY SEVENTH. 167 

*cure retreats of the monks, to whose fidelity in the cause 
of knowledge, succeeding ages and our own, are greatly- 
indebted. But even among the monks, the liberal arts 
were comparatively little cultivated ; a great part of their 
time being principally devoted to legendary lore, in com- 
posing or perusing the lives of eminent Saints. The 
princes of this century were no patrons of learning ; and 
the most eminent writers were contented with the repu- 
tation of being imitators or plagiarists of St. Austin and 
Gregory. The eloquence of the Greeks was turgid and 
obscure, and that of the Latins, with very few exceptions s 
was even worse than among the Greeks. Some insignificant 
compilations of the lives of saints were undertaken, by Mos- 
chus,Sophronious, and others ; and among the Latins, by 
such writers as Brauli, Jonas an Irishman, Audoenus, Dado, 
and Adamann. Philosophy among both people was at the 
very lowest ebb, and even those who retained any regard 
for it at all, were little more than servile copyists of Bce- 
thiusand Cassiodorus. The Greeks surrendered Plato 
entirely to the monks, and during the Monophysite, Nesto- 
rian, and Monothelite controversies, each party sought to 
arm themselves with the subtile and refined logic of the 
Stagyrite sage. 

State of the Clergy* 

§ 2. From the testimony of Anastasius, and Baronius 
a Romish writer, it appears, that the tyrant and parricide 
Phocas, transferred, anno 606, from the prelate of Con- 
stantinople, to the Roman pontiff, Boniface III. the title 
of ecumenical or universal bishop. The successors of Bo- 



1 1> 8 ECCLESIASTICAL HIS TOK K . 

niface endeavored, but not without opposition, to main- 
tain the power which had thus been gained. The 
Spanish monarchs of this century claimed nearly the same 
authority in ecclesiastical affairs, with that of the present 
kings of England. We learn on the testimony of the venera- 
ble Bede, that the Britains and Scots could be brought by 
no persuasions or threats, to submit to the decrees of the am • 
bitious Roman prelates : and there is reason to believe, that 
as early as this age, the Waldenses had retired to the val- 
lies of Piedmont to escape from the tyranny of these im- 
perious bishops. Between the bishops and monks there 
were constant dissentions. By the favor of the Roman 
bishops, and the general estimation in which their order 
was held, especially among the Latins, the progress of the 
monks was greatly accelerated, and their numbers in- 
creased. Not only did parents dedicate their children, 
supplied for the most part with liberal and costly donations, 
to the service of God, by shutting them up in monasteries ; 
but multitudes who had lived in profligacy and vice, would 
seek, at the approach of death, a reconciliation with 
heaven, by bequeathing their fortunes to some monastic 
society, whose prayers they thus obtained for the safety of 
their souls. Several ecclesiastics, among whom, of the 
Latins, were Isidore, Froctuosus and Columban, laid 
down rules and directions for the government of monasteries 
which were highly esteemed and followed, till the rule of 
St Benedict superseded all others. 



CENTURY SEVENTH. 10.9 

CHAPTER III. 

DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH. 

It can scarcely be told, under what a mass of super 
^:tition the pure religion of the gospel lay groaning in 
this century. Christians were now instructed to pay a 
devout reverence to feigned relics of the holy cross, to 
the images of Saints, and to the bones of they knew 
not whom. The terrors of purgatory were made the 
principal object of their religious fears.. To the merits 
of Christ were added as a means of attaining salvation, 
certain rounds of religious exercises, profuse donations to 
the clergy, and numerous external rites, which, dignified 
with the name of good works, were sanctioned by the 
church, and attested by miracles. While the study of 
philosophy grew cold among the Latins, the Greeks only 
thought of disputing on certain branches of the Chris- 
tian religion ; nor can we find among them any thing 
like a system of the doctrines of the gospel. Antiochus 
however, a monk of Palestine, composed what he called 
a Pandect of the scriptures, and Ildefonsus wrote a 
valuable and even elegant treatise on the knowledge of 
baptism, in which the Holy Scriptures and writings of 
the fathers are made the standard of faith. Among the 
better sort of writers on practical divinity, may be num- 
bered Dorotheus, Maximus, Aldhelm,* Hesichius and 
Thalassius. But even these reduce the duties incumbent 



* Of this writer, Colly erEc. His. yol. 1, p. 121, makes very honorable men ■ 
lion. 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

on the laity, to a very narrow compass. There cannot 
indeed be a stronger proof of the laxity of morals and 
practical virtue in this age, than the general notion, that 
the seclusion of the monastic life (hence called the second 
baptism,) atoned for every sort of iniquity and sin . Theo- 
dore of Tarsus, raised anno 668, to the Archepiscopateol 
Canterbury, restored the ancient discipline of penance 
which had fallen into decay. In his work, the peniten- 
tial, he also prescribed forms of consolation, exhortation, 
and absolution. His volume was in a general esteem 
and use, till supplanted in the eighth century by what was 
denominated the Canon of Indulgences, The contro- 
versial writers were Nicias against the Gentiles, Pome- 
fius against the Jews, and Timotheus against heretics. 



CHAPTER IV. 

HISTORY OP RITES. 

In a council denominated Quinisextine, as supplemen- 
tary to the fifth and sixth of Constantinople, the Greeks 
enacted several laws concerning ceremonies, different 
from those observed by the Latins. Almost every Ro- 
man pontiff added something to the ceremonies already 
instituted by some one or other of his predecessors. 
This practice continued to the times of Charlemagne. 
The emperor Heraclius, in consequence of having 
re-gained from the hands of the Persians, the cross which 
Constantine's mother was supposed to have discovered, 
procured the establishment of a new festival in honor of 
this happy event. Boniface IV. instituted the festival. 



CENTintV SEVENTH. l7t 

now known by the name of All Saints, and a successor 
of his, the fifth of the same name, enacted a law, by 
which churches were made a safe refuge for all offen- 
ders who fled there for protection. 



CHAPTER V. 

HISTORY OF HERESIES. 

The remains of the Manchiean heresy still subsisted, 
and experienced a fluctuating fortune in Arabia and 
.Mesopotamia. The Lombards in Italy espoused the 
Arian doctrines, in preference to those of the council 
of Nice. In Gaul and Great Britain, the Pelagians and 
Semi-Pelagians continued to excite the warmest dissen- 
tions. The Nestorians and Monophysites, under the 
empire of the Saracens, enjoyed a high degree of 
prosperity and favor. Jesuiabus, the Nestorian patri- 
arch, made a treaty with Mahomet, and afterwards 
with Omar, by which he obtained for his sect, many 
signal advantages.* In Egypt and Syria, the Mono- 
physites experienced an equal degree of favor. 

About the year 629, the Emperor Heraclius desired 
to restore to the bosom of the church the Monophy- 
sites, whose emigration into Persia had been injurious 
to the empire. He was assured by the Monophysite 



* There is yet extant a testamentary diploma of Mahomet, which is judged 

to be a forgery by many of the learned, but which is acknowledged by the 

Mahometans themselves ; and at all events, contains the sentiments of their 

©under, who is known to have prohibited any outrage against Christians, and 

particularly Kestorians. 



172 LESIASTICAL HlSTORVc 

Catholic or primate, that his object would be effected; 
provided the Greeks would accede to the proposition. 
that in Jesus Christ after the union of the two nature*, 
there was but one ivill and one operation of that wilL 
The doctrine contained in the formula was generally 
acceptable, and many Monophy sites returned again 
to the church. But Sophronius, a monk of Palestine, 
created, in the year 634, patriarch of Constantinople, 
assembled a council, and in it condemned the Mono- 
thelites, or those who held the doctrine of one icilL 
as guilty of the Eutycfhean heresy. He strove, but in 
vain, to draw into his opinions the pontiff Honorius, 
nor can the Romish writers wipe out with all their art 
this blot in the escutcheon of the pope's infallibility. 
The emperor Heraclius, still anxious to promote peace, 
promulgated, in the year 639, an edict called Ecthesis 7 
in which all discussions on the question, whether one 
or two operations existed in Christ, were strictly for- 
bidden ; while at the same time the edict maintained 
the doctrine of one will. This law was received by 
Pyrrhus of Constantinople, and most of the bishops. 
On the other hand, John IV. bishop of Rome, in a coun- 
cil he assembled, rejected the edict and condemned 
the Monothelites. In consequence of these proceed- 
ings, Constans the emperor enacted a new law, called 
the type, (<ru<7ro£,) anno 648, in which silence was imposed 
on both the contending parties. But fresh disturbances 
arose, and Constantine Pogonatus, the son of Con- 
stans, by the advice of Agathio, bishop of Rome, sum- 
moned the sixth general council, anno 680, to meet at 
Constantinople. The Monothelites, and the pon 



CENTURY SEVENTH. 

Honorius, were here condemned. It is difficult to give 
the true creed of the Monothelites. It is clear that 
they did not all agree in the explanation of their creed ; 
the most able of the sect however, were of opinion, 
that the human will in Christ was the instrument of the 
divine. After the Monothelite doctrine had thus been 
exploded by the council of Constantinople, it found an 
asylum among the Mardaites, a people who inhabited the 
mountains of Libanus and Antilibanus, who received 
the name of Maronites from John Maro their first 
bishop, and who returned to the bosom of the Romish 
church, anno 1192. A new council was called, anno 
692, by order of Justinian II. in a hall of the palace^ 
which from this circumstance is denominated the coun- 
cil of Trullo. In it were enacted such laws as were 
necessary for ecclesiastical discipline, amounting in all 
to one hundred and two ; and which as supplementary 
to the fifth and sixth general council, have also given 
this assembly the name of Quinisextine. Of the canons 
then passed, the Romanists reject the fifth, thir- 
teenth, thirty-sixth, fifty-fifth, sixty -seventh, and eighty, 
-econd. 



15 



BOOK III. 



COMPRISING THE PERIOD 
CHARLEMAGNE, 

TO THE 

REFORMATION. 



CENTURY" EIGHTH. 

CHAPTER I. 

OUTWARD STATE OP THE CHURCH. 

Its Progress. 

§1. The Nestorians of Chaldea, were successful in 
converting the Tartars or Scythians who dwelt within the 
limits of Mount Imaus. Timotheus, the pontiff of that 
still flourishing sect, sent zealous and successful mission- 
aries, first among the Gelae and Dailamites, and subse- 
quently to other nations inhabiting Hircania, Bactriaria, 
Margiana, and Sogdiana. The greatest part of Germany 
had hitherto remained enveloped in the darkness of pa- 
gan superstition, notwithstanding the combined efforts 
of holy men and several monarchs. The celebrated 
Benedictine monk Boniface, of an illustrious British 
family, solemnly commissioned by Gregory II. success- 
fully executed in two separate missions, the work of an 
evangelist, among the Thuringi, Frieslanders, and Hes- 
sians. To keep his new converts stedfast in the faith, he 
established in Germany, the bishoprics of Wurtzburg, 
Erfurt, Burabourg, and Archstadt, to which was also 
added, anno 774, the famous monastery of Fulda. Ele- 
vated at length, anno 746, to the rank of primate of Ger- 
many and all Belgium, by Zachary bishop of Rome, 
this eminent and now aged prelate, undertook a new jour- 



CENTURY EIGHTH. 177 

ney into Friesland, and was with his companions barba- 
rously murdered, anno 750. Great as were the labors of 
Boniface in the work of conversion, and much as he de- 
served the title of Apostle of the Germans, his epistles 
demonstrate no small degree of ignorance concerning the 
Holy Scriptures. Among the apostles of the Germans, 
should be reckoned Corbinian, a Benedictine monk, who 
after enlightening Bavaria, became bishop of Friesingen. 
Pirmin, a Gaul, preached the gospel amidst sufferings and 
opposition among the Allemans. Lebuin an Englishman , 
labored with assiduity, and some little fruit, to convert 
the fierce and warlike Saxons, the Frisians, and Belgae 
A war which broke out, anno 772, between Charlemagne 
and the Saxons, in which the former was victorious, con- 
tributed not a little to withdraw those savage Germans 
from their idolatrous worship, and subdue their ferocity. 
Widikind and Albion, two Saxon leaders, made bold and 
vigorous efforts against a religion, which they looked on 
as a symbol of national subjection ; but the valor of Charle- 
magne and his generosity to the vanquished, induced 
them in the year 785, to solemnly embrace in their 
own name and that of their nation the gospel of Christ. 
Among these people and the Hunns who preferred Chris- 
tianity to becoming slaves, their conqueror established 
bishoprics, built monasteries, and founded schools. For 
these and other services Charlemagne has been canonized, 
and whatever were his faults, he yet possessed many vir- 
tues, and was not wholly devoid of piety. Of the mira- 
cles and pious frauds, so common in this century, it is 
less necessary to speak, in a work more devoted to facte 
than reflections. 

15* 



*7& ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

Trials of the Church. 

§2, While the Byzantine empire was torn with di=>- 
entionSj ecclesiastic and civil, the Saracens roamed 
throughout Asia and Africa, every where depressing, 
and in many places extirpating the Christian religion. 
But the Mahometan faith, in this century, had a most 
powerful accession in the Tartars or Turks, a fierce 
irid savage people, who, pouring from the remote and 
inaccessible wilds of mount Caucasus, overspread all 
Colchis and Albania, and rushing thence into Armenia,, 
vanquished the Saracens, and subsequently overturn- 
ed the empire of the Greeks. In the year 714, the 
Saracens made a successful incursion into Spain. Pass- 
ing thence into Gaul A in defiance of the valor 
of the heroic Charles Martel, and the formidable 
preparations of his son Charlemagne, they continued 
for many years to harrass the French monarchy, and 
indeed the whole of Europe. 



CHAPTER II. 

STATE OF LEARNING AND TEACHERS. 

State of Learning. 

§1. Learning among the Greeks had become almost 
extinct. But the credit of Aristotle, by the zeal of 
John Demascene, together with that of the Nestorians 
and Jacobites, was daily on the rise. Gennanus, the 
eastern patriarch, is deserving of some applause) and 
the monk George Syincellus has rendered himself fa- 



CENTURY EIGHTH. 179 

uious as the author of the Chronicon Alexandrinum. 
With the exception of a few instances, which might be 
found in Rome and some cities of Italy, the principal 
Latin writers must be looked for among the British. 
Scotch or Irish. Such was the historic and venerable 
Bede, Alcuin the friend of Charlemagne, Egbert, 
Clemens, Dungal, and Acca. Charles, to whose name 
has been indissolubly joined the title of great, cordial- 
ly invited learned men to his dominions, from Italy. 
Britain, and Ireland, and endeavored to rouse by en- 
couragement and his own example, the clerical order, 
the nobility around him, and the rising generation, to 
the pursuit of knowledge in all its branches, human 
and divine. He also founded the Palatine school for 
the education of young princes, and the sons of nobility ; 
and though he did not erect, as some have supposed, 
the University of Paris, he may be said, in a measure, 
to have laid its foundation. The circle of science was 
generally considered as comprised in the seven arts of 
grammar, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, music and 
astronomy : the three former of which were denomina- 
ted Trivium, and the four latter Quadrivium. 

Of the Clerical Order, 

§2. It is a subject of astonishment, that in the midst 
of the vices to which the clergy of this age, both of the 
East and the West, abandoned themselves, they yet 
should be held in the highest veneration. But the au- 
thority of the clergy and the reverence bestowed on 
them, were greater in the western than in the eastern 



ISO ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

provinces. This difference arose from the devotional 
spirit of the barbarians, who had now gained possession 
of the first and fairest portions of the Roman empire. 
They naturally transferred to the ministers of the reli- 
gion they had recently embraced, the rights and the 
powers which had formerly belonged to those of their 
ancient worship. To the enormous degree of power 
which was derived from this cause, may also be added 
the influence procured by the wealth which flowed from 
all sides into the coffers of the Church, in consequence 
of the notion universally entertained, that punishment 
for sins was capable of mitigation by generous donations 
to God and the saints, to churches and the clergy. It 
was natural, that princes should endeavor to surpass 
the liberality of individuals, in benefactions to the sa- 
cred order. Hence came those extensive grants made 
by monarchs to the clergy, denominated regalia* 
These grants and these titles became the source of those 
grievous contests, concerning investitures and the rights 
of the regalia, which afterwards disturbed all Eu- 
rope. It was usual among the kings of the European 
nations, to biud their clients to their interests by large 
grants of land, towns, and castles, with all the appendant 
rights, which yet still remained under the original grant- 
er, as supreme lord, and on the condition of the vassal 
assisting him in time of war. It was probably owing in 
some degree to the political motive of affording a check to 
the growing, and often rebellious power of these vassals, 

* On a similar principle, viz. the grant of temporal property, the spiritual 
orda now sit in the house of peers of Great Britain. I do not remember an in 
stance where English bishops were subjected to military service, though ail 
feudal service supposed it. 



CEKTURY EIGHTH. 181 

that Charlemagne and other princes aimed to increase 
the temporal as well as maintain obedience to the spirit- 
ual authority of the bishops and clergy. The form ot 
these donations was generally in the words for redemp- 
tion of our soids, or mulct for our sins ; and they were 
showered on no head more than on that of the Roman 
pontiff. This powerful prelate, was supposed by the 
northern nations, to hold the place of the Archdruid 
or high priest of their former religion, and hence they 
esteemed it a point of duty to load him with honors. 
A specimen of the enormous power which the bishop 
of Rome began at this time to exercise, is afforded by 
some transactions which occurred in the French mon- 
archy. Pepin, mayor of the palace to King Childeric ? 
aspiring to the rank and title of his master, had propo- 
sed in an assembly of the states of the realm, anno 750, 
that the question should be put to Zachary, bishop of 
Rome, whether a brave and warlike people could lawful- 
ly dethrone a monarch incapable of discharging the 
functions of royalty, and place in his stead a man more 
worthy to rule. The answer of Zachary was favorable 
to Pepin, and this sentence was afterwards ratified by 
Stephen II. who crowned and anointed Pepin toge- 
ther with his wife and children.* Stephen II. implored 
the aid of Pepin against Aistulph king of the Lombards. 
Mindful of former benefits, the king of the Franks flew 
to the aid of his ghostly benefactor. Aistulph was twice 
defeated and compelled to surrender the exarchate of 
Ravenna, together with Pentapolis inti> the hands of 

* See Luke xxii. 24, Rom, siii. 1, and 1 Tim. ii. 1. 



\b2 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

Stephen, as successor of St. Peter ; and thus the bish- 
op of Rome became a temporal prince. Charlemagne 
even surpassed the liberality of his father, and in so do- 
ing, opened for himself a passage to the empire of the 
West. This design he effected, anno 800, and was crown- 
ed by Leo III. as emperor of the Romans, granting at 
the same time, the city of Rome, and its adjacent lands, 
to be held in feudal tenure by its bishop.* But in the 
midst of these events so calculated to increase the Ro- 
man pontiff's power, Leo the Isaurian, and Constan- 
tineCopronimus, emperors of the East, rent from Grego- 
ry the II. and III. their possessions in Sicily, Calabria, 
and Apulia, as well as their jurisdiction over the 
provinces and Churches of lllyria. These ample 
deductions were never restored ; and hence we may 
trace those unhappy divisions which entirely separa- 
ted in a subsequent age, the Greek and Latin Church- 
es ; to which we may also add the controversy that 
arose at this time, concerning the procession of the 
Holy Ghost. 

No good writer of this century, has ventured to 
speak in commendation of the monks. Those who 
preserved any remains of purity among them, 
were principally of the East, living a lonely and 
miserable life apart from all society. Charle- 
magne attempted, by several capitularies, to restrain 
the licentiousness of the western monks, but his 



* About this peiiod, were probardy forged the letters which Leo persuadec 
Charlemagne contained the grant of Constantine to St. Peter's successors, oj 
the dominion of the old Metropolis, when that 6rst Christian emperor rernoveu 
- Constantinople. 



CENTURY EIGHTH. 



kii'lorts proved in vain. This general depravity and cor- 
ruption of the monks, produced in the West, a new 
order of priests, between the monks or regulars, and 
the secular clergy. These ecclesiastics were at first 
called Dominici patres, but afterwards, Canons. 
They made use of a common abode and table, and ob- 
served regular times of prayer, but kept themselves en- 
tirely unshackled by vows, and performed in certain 
churches, the ministerial office. Hadrian I., in a coun- 
cil held at Rome, transferred to Charlemagne the right 
of electing and creating the bishops of that city. These 
prelates as yet obeyed the imperial laws. The emperors, 
themselves, by their messengers or envoys, inquired into 
the lives and dissensions of the clergy ; and obliged all 
churches and monasteries to pay a certain tribute, ex- 
cept such as were exempted by particular favor. Dis- 
putes on religious subjects were determined in coun- 
cils, assembled for the purpose, and the right of sum- 
moning these councils, belonged to the sovereign 
prince, in whose state they were convened. 



CHAPTER III. 

DOCTRINE OP THE church. 

Its Condition and Writers, 

§1. The fundamental doctrines of the Christian reli- 
gion, were yet preserved by the Greek and Latin wri- 
ters, as appears from the work of John Damascene, con- 



184 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

cernifig orthodox faith, and from the confession of faith 
which was drawn up by Charlemagne. Among those 
who exercised their own learning and skill in investiga- 
ting the sense of the Holy Scriptures, were Alcuin, 
Ambrose, Bede, and Authpert, who certainly deserve 
credit for the age in which they lived. It was, howev- 
er, a prevailing fault, to neglect the natural signification 
of words, and search for a hidden sense, which was bar- 
barously divided into what was denominated allegorical, 
anagogical, and tropological. The pious zeal of Char- 
lemagne, not only employed Alcuin, in correcting the 
errors of the Latin interpretation, but induced him, it is 
said, to devote many years at the close of his own life, 
to that learned and pious work. But the labors of 
Charlemagne, may have contributed, in some measure, 
to foster the indolence of the clergy and monks. The 
portions of Scripture, which by his order were selected 
to be publicly read in churches, in conformity with a 
practice of lpng standing in the church, began to be con- 
sidered as the only parts of God's word it was necessary 
to explain ; and the homilies compiled by Paul the 
deacon, and Alcuin, on the epistles and gospels, to be 
made use of in the ritual, produced the bad effect of pre- 
venting other clergymen from composing their own. 
These practical discourses gave rise to the collection 
known under the title of Charlemagne's homilarium.* 



* Charlemagne ordered all the churches in his dominion, to follow the Ro- 
man ritual, and to use the same epistles and gospels which for some time had 
been used in that service. The reason/of his having certain discourses drawn 
up by able and judicious hands, which should be committed to memory and 



CENTURY EIGHTH. 185 

Didactic theology, among the Latins, was in a very low 
condition. John Damascenus, among the Greeks, com- 
posed a body of divinity in four books concerning ortho- 
dox faith, in which he united the two sorts of theology, 
distinguished by the Latins into scholastic and dogmatic. 

To this work of Damascenus, we may add his sacred 
parallels, in which he collected the opinions of the fathers 
on various subjects. The Irish were of this century 
the most eminent scholars, and famous for applying philo- 
sophy to the illustration of divinity. No writer of this age 
attempted a complete system of practical theology. The 
spurious writings of Dionysus the Areopagite were in 
high repute with the monks. The moral writings of the 
Latins, and particularly Bedeand Alcuin, exhibit a strong 
tincture of the Perepatetic philosophy. 

Of Controversies. 

1 2. Of all the controversies known in the churchy 
none have been more extensive, than that concerning 
images.* Philipicus Bardanes, the emperor of the east^ 
having ordered a picture representing the sixth coun- 
cil, to be removed from its place in the temple of St. 
Sophia, anno 712, the Roman pontiff, Constantine, 
rejected the imperial edict which forbade the use of 
images in any -Church whatever, and in a council as-" 



recited among the people, was probably akin to that which induced queen 
Elizabeth of England, to have admirable discourses drawn up for the public 
use in Churches, which were principally written by that glory of his age, bishop 
Jewel, and which are now the standard of the faith of the P. Episcopal Church 
in this country. 
* Images began to be used in Churches so early as the 5th century, 

16 



l8 5 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

cembled at Rome, denounced Bardanes as an apostate from 
the faith and a favorer of the Monothelites From this pe- 
riod commenced the two factions of Iconolatra, or those 
who paid a devout reverence to images, and of Iconoclas- 
ts or those who thought it a duty to banish them from 
Churches. In the midst of these contests thus begun, Leo 
usually called the Isaurian, ordered, in the year 726, that 
images should every where be removed from the Churches. 
To punish this bold and perhaps imprudent step, Gregory 
II. the Roman pontiff, excommunicated Leo. More 
indignant than alarmed, Leo again issued a still more severe 
edict, anno 730, against the worshippers of images, and 
suffered as the penalty of his furious zeal the loss of his Ita- 
lian territories. More prudent than his father, Constantine 
Copronimus assembled at Constantinople, anno 754, a 
numerous council, which gave its decision in favor of the 
emperor's views. In opposition to this, another council was 
called at Rome by Stephen IV. in which the image cause 
triumphed, and which the Grecian monks approved. Dur- 
ing the life of Constantine and Leo IV. his son, the decrees 
of the council of Constantinople remained in force. 
Upon the death of the latter emperor, Irene, his abandon- 
ed wife, in a league with Adrian, bishop of Rome, sum- 
moned, anno 786, a council at Nice which is usually 
known as the second Nicene. In this assembly, the de- 
crees of that held at Constantinople, and those of former 
emperors condemning image worship were abroga- 
ted. The Britains, Gauls, and Germans, may very prop- 
erly be said to have maintained a middle position be- 
tween the disputants. Charlemagne in a council of 300 
Latin bishops, assembled at Frankfort on the Maine, 



CENTURY EIGHTH. 187 

anno 794, procured a decree by which the worship of 
images, but not their use, was condemned. While this 
controversy was yet at its height, another arose between 
the Latins and Greeks concerning the procession of the 
Holy Ghost; whom the latter affirmed proceeded from 
the father only, and the former, alike from the father and 
the son. The subject had been discussed, anno 767, in 
the council of Gentilli, near Paris, with the Greek empe- 
ror's legates. The Latins, in this controversy , appealed 
to the creed drawn up by the second general council of 
Constantinople, to which they had added the words from 
the son.* This dispute was another cause of the final 
and great rupture between the Greek and Latin Churches* 



CHAPTER IV. 

OF RITES AND CEREMONIES. 

It is not to be wondered at, that Rites and Ceremonies 
should multiply, when religion was principally supposed 
to consist in a formal and strict attention to externals. 
The administration of the Lord's Supper, in particular., 
was burdened with a number of useless and unmeaning 



* The 2nd council of Constantinople made to the words of the Nicene creed 
/ believe in the goly Ghost this addition against MacedoDius " the Lord the 
giver of life, who procecdethframtk* father." But the question being agitated 
whether the procession was as from the father so from the son, the French and 
Spanish Churches first made the addition of the words and from the son which 
Leo III. most wisely determined, however true the doctrine, ought not to be 
done; and graved the original from silver plates in Greek and Latin. Subse- 
quent popes allowed of the addition and thus commenced a schism never tob£ 
healed till the voids flio que are strick from the cpeed. 



188 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

forms. In this century we find traces of those solitary 
masses,* now every where used in the Romish Church. 
To the growing superstition, Charlemagne endeavored 
to put some bounds. Besides the censures which he 
caused to be passed on image worship, he limited the 
number of festivals, and prohibited the practice which 
began to be adopted, of baptising bells for Churches, 
His efforts, however, were in a great measure checked, 
by his hereditary attachment to the bishop of Rome, 
This attachment was the reason of his introducing the 
psalmody, and at last the whole ritual which was 
used in the Romish church, into those of his dominions^ 
with the exception of that of Milan and that of Corbet- 
ta, which resisted every attempt to alter their ancient 
form. 



CHAPTER V. 

HISTORY OF HERESIES. 

Some of the old sects, the Arians,ManicheansandMar- 
cionites, gathered strength, amidst the civil and ecclesi- 
astical dissentions by which the Greek empire was rent 
in pieces. The Monothelite cause had a lover and 
patron in the Emperor Philipicus, and under the sway of 
the Saracenic sceptre, the Monophysites and Nestorians 
found a safe and secure harbor. Adalbert of Gaul, and 
Clemens an Irishman, were accused by Boniface, of 



* On this subject, see Bing. Or. Ec. 15, 4. 4. The word mass is derived 
from the Hebrew, mcssack an oblation, and signified originally, any offering 
of prayer to God. 



CENTUKY EIGHTH. 189 

propagating heresy among the Germans and Gauls, and 
by Zachary the Roman bishop, were condemned in a 
council held at Rome, anno 748, and committed to pri- 
son, where they probably died. A new opinion which 
was called forth, anno 783, from Felix of Urgella, by 
Elipaud of Toledo, excited fresh disturbances through- 
out Spain and Gaul. Both these prelates held that 
Christ, as a man, was only the son of God nominally ? 
and by adoption, while in his divine nature he was 
truly and essentially God. Felix died in banishment 
at Lyons, while Elipand lived secure among the Sara- 
cens. The followers of Felix, usually called Adoptians^ 
were charged with maintaining the heresy of Nestorius, 
but appear to have erred principally in the use of 
itrange expressions fc 



10* 



CENTURY NINTH. 

CHAPTER I. 

OUTWARD STATE OP THE CHURCH. 

Progress of the Church. 

§1. It was under the auspices of Lewis the Pius, 
that Ansgar a monk of Corbey, with Authbert his asso- 
ciate, in the midst of innumerable perils, converted mul- 
titudes of the Cambrians, Danes, and Swedes, to the 
faith of the gospel. About the middle of this century, 
Methodius and Cyril, two Greek monks, commissioned 
by Theodora the empress, induced the Moesians, Bulga- 
rians, and Gazari, and subsequently the inhabitants of 
Bohemia and Moravia, to renounce their idolatrous wor- 
ship and embrace Christianity. These people were natur- 
ally instructed by their apostles in the rites of the Greek 
church, and accordingly, we find them strenuously oppos- 
ing in after times, the efforts of the Roman pontiffs to 
bring them over to those of Rome. During the reign 
of Basilius the Macedonian, emperor of the Greeks, the 
Slavonians, Arentani, and other nations inhabiting Dal- 
matia, voluntarily subjected themselves to the sceptre of 
the Greek empire, and embraced the Christian faith. 
The warlike Russians were converted at the same time, 
and received an archbishop, sent them from Constanti- 
nople. It is a subject of congratulation, that these con* 



CENTURY NINTtf, 191 

versions were effected on better motives, and with better 
means, than those of a former century. 

Trials of the Church. 

§2. The extension of the empire and religion of the Sara- 
cens, was necessarily injurious to the Christian cause. 
Those warlike enthusiasists had now become masters of 
Spain and Sardinia. From Africa they passed over into Si- 
cily, Crete, and Corsica, and thence into Italy, every where 
laying waste the countries where they came. According 
as their conquerors were lenient or cruel, many were in- 
duced to embrace the Moslem creed, in regions which 
had bowed before the arms of the crescent. Those who 
remained faithful to the religion of Christ, were generally 
treated, except by the European Saracens, either with cru- 
elty or the deepest contempt. The Normans, a barbarous 
people, pirates by profession, and proud of that profes- 
sion, issuing forth from the rude and inhospitable shores of 
Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, made frequent incur- 
sions into Friesland, Gaul, Batavia, England and Spain* 
and committed outrages against the Christians wherever 
they came. Softened by the mild and benignant influ- 
ence of the gospel, and by intermarriages with those 
more-refined people who professed it they were induced 
to become Christians. 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, 

CHAPTER II. 

STATE OF LEARNING AND TEACHERS. 

Of Learning. 

§1. Great encouragement was given, throughout the 
eastern empire, to learning and learned men ; and 
hence, notwithstanding the unhappy circumstances of 
the age, there were many erudite and skilful scholars, 
at the head of whom was Leo, commonly called the 
Wise, who shone under the patronage of various Greek 
emperors, particularly under that of the patriarch Pho- 
tius, a great patron of learning. The Arabian?, who had 
hitherto been solely intent upon extending their con- 
quests, were excited to a love of literature in the reign 
of Abu Gaafar Abdallah. This renowned Moslem 
prince, who was Calif at the same time of Babylon and 
Egypt, founded flourishing schools at Bagdad, Cusa, 
Basora, and other cities of his dominion, and employed 
every method, worthy of a great and erudite prince, for 
promoting the cause of letters. It may indeed be af- 
firmed, that from the tenth century, Europe was in- 
debted to the books and the schools of the Arabian 
sages, for almost all its knowledge in Mathematics, Astro- 
nomy, Medicine, and Philosophy. Lewis the Pius, in 
imitation of his father Charlemagne, planned several 
schemes for promoting the arts and sciences, and was 
even exceeded in his patronage of learning and learn- 
ed by his son Charles the Bold. In Italy, Lothaire, 
the brother of Charles, also followed in the footstep^ 
of his grand-father Charlemagne, and founded, though 



CENTURY NINTH. 193 

without the results he expected, eight schools, in as 
many of the principal Italian cities. In England, the 
great Alfred acquired for himself an imperishable fame, 
by the progress he made in all kinds of learning, and 
the care which he took, in multiplying men of genius 
throughout his dominions. Among the learned men of 
the age, the first place is due to Rabanus Maurus, who 
gave the law in science to all Germany and France. 
Of the historians, Eginhard, Freculph, Haymo, Anasta- 
sius, and Ado ; of the writers on grammar, Rabanus, 
Smaragdus, Rertharius ; of the poets, the same Ra- 
banus, with Florus, Bertharius, and Walafrid Strabo ; 
of the scholars in Greek and Hebrew, William, Ser- 
vetus Lupus, and John Scotus ; of the orators, Egin- 
hard, Lupus, and Hincmar, are deserving of the most 
conspicuous figure. John Erigena Scotus, an Irishman^ 
surpassed in subtlety and acumen all who attempted, as 
was now become common, to explain divine subjects 
by the philosophy of Aristotle. Next to this philos- 
opher, must properly be placed Dungal, an Irishman, 
and Heiric ; the last of whom is said in the solitude 
of a cloister, to have anticipated the scheme of the 
celebrated Descartes. 

Of the Clerical Order* 

^2. In the Court, and indeed all the provinces of the 
Eastern empire, every thing was carried on in the midst 
of tumult and discord. The patriarchs of Constantino- 
ple were chosen or degraded, according to the favor in 
which they stood with the court. The great corruption 



194 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

of the sacred order in the West, is doubtless attributable 
in a very high degree, to the ignorance which prevailed 
among them, and to the excessive increase of their 
wealth. To this cause we may add, the introduction 
of inactive and illiterate persons into the highest honors 
of the Church. But the circumstance which most con- 
tributed to impair the morals of the higher orders of the 
clergy, was the military obligations under which they lay 
as feudal tenants,* to bring forward into the field a certain 
number of soldiers, and often to appear at the head of 
these forces in time of war. Until the time of Charles 
the Bold, the Roman pontiffs, when elected by the suf- 
frages of the people and clergy conjointly, were approv- 
ed of by the emperor, previous to consecration. Amidst 
the commotions excited through all parts of the world , 
the ambitious prelates of Rome found means to aug- 
ment by gradual but sure stages the power of the pontifi- 
cate. In their lust of domination, Gregory IV. and Nich- 
olas I. exceeded all the rest ; the former of whom, en- 
couraged the children of Louis the Pius, in their unnatur- 
al rebellion against their father, and the latter exhibited 
numerous examples of his unbounded arrogance and 
pride. To support the assumed authority now claimed 
by the Roman pontiffs, various documents were forged ; 
among which may be mentioned, the acts of several 
councils, those decretal epistles which pass under the 
name of Isidore the bishop of Seville, and the decisions 
of a certain council said to have been held under Sylves- 



* See page 180 and note. 



CENTURY NINTH. lt)5 

ter. A remarkable instance of the complaisance of 
princes to the ambitious prelates of Rome, was furnish- 
ed by Charles the Bold, who in the year 875, relinquish- 
ed his jurisdiction over the city of Rome, and yielded to 
John VIII. by whose authority and aid he had attained 
the imperial power, the right of nominating the empe- 
ror. Between the pontificates of Leo IV. and Benedict 
III. lies the date of the well known story given on the 
testimony of Marianus a Scotchman, and Martirius a 
Pole, concerning Pope Joan. A German girl is said 
to have been chosen to this high dignity, anno 865, for 
the talents and learning for which she became renown- 
ed in an illiterate age. The birth of a child in a crowd- 
ed procession, terminated her life and exaltation toge- 
ther, after holding the see something more than two 
years. This strange, and perhaps unfounded narra- 
tion, was generally credited for five succeeding ages. 
But as the more approved Protestant agree with the Ro- 
mish writers, in renouncing the fable of there having 
been a pope of another sex than the male, we may con- 
clude with Paul Sarpi, that something occurred to give 
rise to the story, but that what the something w r as, must 
forever remain secret. Such was the reverence in 
which the monastic life was universally held, that nobles, 
and even kings, relinquishing their rank, their honors, 
and their thrones, retired to the cloisters as a retreat 
from the world. On the other hand, we find the 
monks of this century displaying their talents as embas- 
sadors, envoys, and ministers of state. To effect among 
the order generally, some degree of the needed refor- 
mation, Lewis the Pius, ordered all the western 



106 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

monks to follow the rule of Benedict, as simpler in its 
form, and more adapted than others to the nature of 
man. It is from this age, indeed, we may properly date 
the renown and firm establishment of the order of Bene- 
dictines. Under the title of Canonesses, the first female 
convent ever known in the Christian world, was insti- 
tuted by Lewis ; and for them and the Canons he procu- 
red a rule in the council of Aix-la-Chapelle, anno 871 ? 
which is usually assigned to the pen of Amalarius, arch- 
bishop of Mctz. 



CHAPTER III. 

DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH. 

Its Condition and Writers. 

§1. When death had removed by degrees those lights 
of a dark age which had been raised in the West by the 
liberality of Charlemagne, barbarism and ignorance 
again resumed their sway, and a cloud of superstitions 
was spread over the Christian world. The high estima- 
tion in which those were held who devoted themselves 
to a life of solitude and silence, contributed much to the 
decay of piety, by fostering a fondness for a senseless 
and fanatical devotion. To these, let us add the vices 
of men in power, the total neglect of learning, the lord- 
ly claims of the Romish bishops, the frauds and forge- 
ries of monks, and we cease to wonder, that in this cen- 
tury, the genuine fruits of virtue, of reason, and of piety 
are scarce to be discerned. An example of the gross 



CENTCRY NINTH. 19? 

superstition which prevailed, may well be exhibited, in 
the unbounded and even idolatrous reverence which was 
shewn to departed saints, their dead bodies, and their 
bones. It was in some degree to stop this licentious 
and fatal superstition, which created in every Church, 
and almost every individual, some patron saint, that ec- 
clesiastical councils were obliged to forbid that any one 
after death should be enrolled in that character, unless, 
in presence of the people and in a provincial council, 
the bishop had declared him deserving of the honor. 
This episcopal right the Roman pontiff transferred to 
himself;* and from these beginnings, sprung the prac- 
tice distinguished by the title of canonization, the ex- 
ercise of which the Church of Rome has now complete- 
ly engrossed. To this increase of the saints and reve- 
rence of their memory, we may attribute the numerous 
histories of those who had been remarkable for support- 
ing afflictions, or undergoing death for the sake of the 
gospel. Not only the saints themselves, but even their 
bones, and whatever they had touched, were treated 
with a veneration almost idolatrous. In them was sup- 
posed to reside a certain virtue, sufficient for the cure 
of every disorder. Their relics were eagerly sought 
for; as soon as they were discovered the utmost joy 
ensued, and the zeal of these seekers was animated 
afresh. Some travelled for this purpose, into places 
which Christ had honored with his presence ; nor did 



* The first instance however, which occurs of a person who was sainted by 
'.he bishop of Rome alone, was that of Udalric, the bishop of Augshurgh, who 
received from John XV. that dignity in the year 955, 

17 



198 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTOHY, 

the rapacity and fraud of the Greeks, suffer these Latin 
relic hunters to leave their provinces, without amply 
supplying their credulity with food, and receiving in re- 
turn a considerable part of their wealth. 

Few of the Greeks, and among the few was Photius, in 
his questions on Scripture, undertook the interpretation 
of the sacred volume. All the Latin expositors, either 
followed the footsteps and notions of the ancients, or in- 
volved their own meaning in abstruse significations and 
difficult senses. Of the former class were Rabanus, 
Hincmar, on the four books of Kings, Walafrid Strabo. 
in his glossa ordinaria, Sedulius,Haymo of Halberstadt, 
and others of inferior note. Of the latter class, were Ra- 
banus, who belongs alike to both, Paschasius Radberr, 
Scotus, Haymo, and others. In didactic theology, the 
Greeks followed Damascene, and the Latins Augustin. 
In place of clear deduction, ancient authority was as- 
sumed as the foundation of truth. John Scotus alone, 
attempted to interpret the Scriptures agreeable to the 
rules of reason and the principles of philosophy. Some 
of those who gave themselves to moral theology, collect- 
ed their maxims from various ancient writings; others 
again, resorted to allegories and tropes, to explain the 
will of God; while many of the Greeks propounded 
cases of conscience, to which they gave solutions. A 
copy of the pretended works of Dionysius the Areopa- 
gite, having been sent by Michael Balbus into Italy, kin- 
dled the flame of mysticism, and created in that country 
an enthusiastic admiration for this kind of devotion. 
Hilduin, a French abbot, by command of Lewis the 
Meek, composed the Areophagita or life of Dionysius, 



CENTURY NINTH. 199 

in which the Arcopagite was daringly confounded with 
Dionysius who had once been bishop of Paris. Ago- 
bard, 4mulo, and Rabanus Maurus, drew their pens 
against the Jews. The emperor Leo, with Theodore 
Abucara, and others, employed their polemic labors, but 
with doubtful fidelity, against the Saracens. 

Of Controversies. 

§2. On the banishment of the empress Irene, the 
controversy concerning the worship of images, was re- 
newed with greater vigor. Leo the Armenian, in a 
council assembled at Constantinople, anno 814, abolish- 
ed the decrees made at Nice in favor of image worship. 
His son Michael Balbus, and grandson Theophilus, fol- 
lowed in his steps. But Theodora, the empress, and 
widow of Theophilus, tired with the importunities, or 
deluded by the miracles of the monks, in another sy- 
nod held, anno 842, restored the laws of the second 
Nicene council, and gave a triumph to the cause of im- 
age worship which was confirmed, anno 879, in the 
council of Constantinople, which is called by the Greeks 
ecumenical,* and in honor of whose decrees, they in- 
stituted a feast denominated ihefeast^of orthodoxy. The 
French as a nation, and the Germans, could not be in- 
duced to unite with the Greeks on this point, nor would 
the prelates assembled in a council at Paris, anno 824. 
by order of Lewis Pious, depart from the sentence pass- 



* \ distinction must be observed between this and another council also held 
at Constantinople, but ten years before, auno 869, and which the Latins say is 
:hs true eighth ecumeni 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTOtir. 

cd in the council of Frankfort. Two controversies 
commenced and were carried on in this century with 
the utmost degree of virulence in the Latin Church. 
Godeschalcus, a Saxon monk and a professed follower 
of St. Augustin, in a casual dispute with Count Ebcrald, 
had maintained the position, that God from all eternity, 
had decreed eternal punishment to some, and to others 
eternal happiness. Informed by letter of this discourse, 
Kabanus Maurus, his bitter enemy, represented him as 
a heretic, and corrupter of religion. Appearing at 
Mentz, of which his enemy was archbishop, Godeschal- 
cus was condemned in a council there assembled, anno 
S48. In another which was holden in the following 
year at Quincey, he was degraded from the priesthood, 
compelled to burn the defence he had offered at the 
council of Mentz, and finally died a prisoner in the mo- 
nastery of Hautvilliers. The opinions of Godeschalcus 
were sustained after he died, by eminent and illustrious 
names, as those of Ratram the monk, Prudentius and Ser- 
vetus ; while a council held at Valencia, anno 855, revo- 
ked the decrees which had passed at that of Quincey. To 
this dispute, was joined another on the words trina deltas. 
From a hymn which was wont to be used in divine wor- 
ship, Hincmar of Rheims, had ordered the words, Tc 
trina deltas una que poscimus, to be stricken out. 
Against this order the Benedictines raised a violent 
outcry. Godeschalcus, in prison, drew his pen in sup- 
port of his brethren the monks, and the ead of the mat- 
ter was, that the clause was retained, though tritheism 
was laid to the charge of its friends. 
In the year 831, Paschacius Radbert, abbot of Cot- 



CENTURY NINTH. 201 

bey in France, in a work on the Sacrament of Christ's 
body and bfood, maintained, that after consecration the 
very flesh and blood of our Lord in which he was born 
and suffered were present in the bread and wine, of which 
there remained nothing more than the outward figure. 
Hatramne, and John Scotus, who agreed on this subject, 
however they differed on the doctrine of Godeshalcus, by 
order of Charles the Bald wrote two books, in which 
they shewed that the bread and wine were only the signs 
and symbols of Christ's body and blood. From this un- 
happy contest, sprung the charge made on both sides, of 
what was called Stercoranism ; for a full account of 
which the reader is referred to writers who have treated 
expressly on the subject. The flame of envy and hatred., 
which had long been kindling between the two great eas- 
tern and western prelates , blazed forth on the following 
occasion. Photius, the most eminent and learned of all 
the Greeks, had been called to the patriarchate of Con- 
stantinople, on the removal of Ignatius, who had pre- 
viously held that rank. He summoned in the year 861, 
a council, which determined that the measure had 
been properly effected ; and in another council at 
Constantinople, anno 886, returned with warmth the 
anathemas, of the Roman pontiff, Nicolas I. Scarce- 
ly had this wound begun to be healed, in consequence of 
Basiliusthe Macedonian recalling Ignatius, and procuring 
the sanction of a council at Constantinople in the year 
869, when the contest was renewed afresh by the claims 
of either pontiff as lawful bishop of the recently convert- 
ed Bulgarians. Photius on the death of his old adver- 
sary Ignatius, had recovered his rank, anno 878, and left 
17* 



202 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

no means untried to maintain against the Roman bishop, 
John VIII. his right to the jurisdiction of those Bulgari 
ans, who themselves took the part of the Greeks. On 
the death of the resolute Photius in the monastery where 
Leo the philospher had imprisoned him, the Roman pon- 
tiffs endeavored to strip of their honors and offices, the 
bishops who had received consecration at his hands. 
This naturally perpetuated the contests which might have 
been smothered, and writings innumerable supported the 
claims of either side. The principal subjects of dispute 
which subsisted between the Latin and Greek church, 
may be summed up in the claims of the Roman pontiff 
to be the spiritual head of the Christian world, the refu- 
sal of the Greeks to acknowledge the procession of the 
Holy Spirit from the son, the right of the Greek patriarch 
to the spiritual charge of the Bulgarians, together with 
the innocence of Photius and the legality of his conse* 
cration 



CHAPTER IV. 

HISTORY OF RITES. 

It might naturally be supposed, that in an age of super- 
stition, rites and ceremonies would increase. The recov- 
ery of the bodies of certain individuals, furnished occa- 
sion for new festivals, with their different ceremonials. 
Here we discern the true source, of that georgeous ele- 
gance in churches, of the multitude of images, the de- 
corations of the altar, the number of public processions 
and prayers, the splendid and magnificent attire of 
priests, and other pompous appendages to the worship of 
God. The feast <f &t. Michael, and some say that of 



CENTURY NINTH. 203 

All Saints, were added in this century by Gregory IV. to 
those already kept. The partiality of barbarian con- 
verts, to the usages of their country, introduced many 
civil and indeed not a few profane customs into the 
church. Various modes of trial familiar to the rude and 
unpolished nations of the north, were adopted for test- 
ing the innocence of accused persons ; such as those by 
cold water, by single combat, by burning iron, and by the 
cross, which were called the judgments of God, and to 
which the Roman pontiffs, and inferior bishops, gave the 
sanction of their prayers, the celebration of the Lord's 
Supper to increase the solemnity, and sometimes their 
own example. 

CHAPTER V. 

OP HERESIES. 

The fate of former sects may be passed over in si- 
lence. The Arabians continued to favor the Nestorian 
and Monophysite cause. With the sect of Pauli- 
clans, of which Paul of Samosata is usually deemed 
the founder, the Greeks carried on a fierce and varied 
war. Large bodies of these people being put to death 
by Theodora, the rest fled for refuge among the Sara- 
cens, who kindly received them. The Paulicians are 
charged by the Greeks with maintaining the doctrines 
of Manes. But from this heretic they differ in many 
respects, if we give credit to Photius, who wrote a 
book against the Manicheans. The Paulician opinions 
appear to have been in truth a motley mixture of some 
which were entertained by the ancient Gnostics, and 
which came down the stream of time, 



CENTURY TENTH. 

CHAPTER I. 

OUTWARD STATE OF THE CHURCH. 

Progress of the Church. 

§1. The unhappy condition of the church in this 
century, did not prevent the extension of its limits. 
The Nestorians introduced Christianity into Tartary, 
beyond Mount Imaus, and before the century was 
closed, into those parts of it also, where the inhabi- 
tants are known by the name of Karitse. From this 
period a great part of Asiatic Scythia has abounded 
with Christians. 

In the year 912, Robert, the piratical Norman 
chieftain, was led by a union with Gisela, the daugh- 
ter of Charles the Simple, king of France, whose 
fears had promoted the marriage, to embrace Chris- 
tianity, together with all his people. Miceslaus, the 
Polish duke, by a similar connexion with Dambrouka, 
the daughter of a Bohemian prince, anno 965, was in- 
duced to abandon the religion of his father for that 
of Christ, and to submit himself and subjects to the ju- 
risdiction of seven prelates and two arch-bishops. A 
similar effect was produced among the Russians by a 
similar marriage, between Wolodimir their duke, 
anno 987, and Anna the daughter of Basilius junior, 
emperor of the East. Geisa, duke of Hungary, was 
ormally baptised, anno 960, and Stephen completed 



CENTURY TENTH. 205 

the good work, which had so fairly commenced. The 
Danish monarch, Harald the VI. embraced with his 
subjects, anno 948, the religion of his conquerer, Otho 
the great. Haco, king of Norway, persuaded the in- 
habitants of that country, in a full assembly held, anno 
945, to embrace the cause of Christ ; and from Norway, 
the gospel soon passed into Iceland, the Orkney isles, 
and Greenland. In Germany, and especially in his 
Saxon dominions, the Emperor Otho the great, gave 
his powerful support to the religion of Jesus. By his 
munificence it was, that in many parts of Brandenburg, 
Havelbergh, Meissen, Magdeburgh, and Nuremburghj 
bishops were appointed, monasteries founded, and 
schools established. 

Trials of the Church. 

§2. The empire of the Turks, which was daily aug- 
menting, had succeeded to that of the Saracens ; but 
the conquerors embraced the creed of the vanquished, 
and both were alike enemies to the Christian name. 
The Prussians, Bohemians, and others, not only refused 
to bow before the religion of the cross, but miserably 
harrassed their neighbors who professed it. The wri~ 
tings of this period, are filled with complaints of the tyr- 
rany exercised by the Danes, Hungarians, and Arabs, in 
Italy and Spain ; but the wrath of man is destined to 
redound to the praise of God ; and their ravages in 
some degree provoked Christian monarchs to employ 
every art in civilizing these fierce and intractable bar- 
barians, by converting them to Christ, 



206 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTOBY. 

CHAPTER II. 

STATE OF LEARNING AND TEACHER?, 

Of Learning. 

. Among the few who remained still warmly 
tached to the cause of letters, and endeavored by their 
own zeal to kindle an ardor for it in others, Leo the 
Wise, and his son Constantine Porphyrogenitus, stand 
the foremost. The latter of these emperors, became 
himself an author of no mean repute, and employed the 
pens of others, not only in making extracts from the 
works of the fathers, but also in original composition. 
The Saracens, still continued to be the patrons of sci- 
ence, and produced men among them, by no means in- 
ferior to the most learned of the Greeks. Such was 
Eutychius, bishop of Alexandria, a great and success- 
ful collector of books, particularly of those on divinity 
and medicine. Some sparks of learning therefore still 
remained in the East ; in the West, they appear to have- 
been nearly extinct. This age, may in truth be called 
the iron age of the Latins. Some monks there were 
who attempted to compose histories ; as did Luitprand, 
Wmekind, Rathinus, Hodoard, and some others, but 
their works for the most part were jejune, and savored 
of the ignorance and barbarism of the times. Those 
who pretended to cultivate philosophy, principally addict- 
ed themselves to the study of dialetics ; and in this cen- 
tury arose the philosophic sects of Realists and Nomin- 
alists so conspicuous in the succeeding age, and those 



CENTURY TENTH. 20? 

which follow. At the close of the century, the drooping 
sciences found in the learned Gerbert, a Frenchman, 
who afterwards assumed in the character of Roman 
pontiff the name of Sylvester II., a steady and ardent 
patron. But the efforts of a single illustrious individu- 
al, were insufficient to dispel the cloud which had 
gathered over the western world ; and his own extraor- 
dinary knowledge, particularly in the science of geome- 
try, was looked on by the monks, as the result of ma- 
gical powers, and an intercourse with Satan. 

Of the clerical Order. 

§2. Ignorant, avaricious, lustful, and superstitious, 
the clergy of this age were a dishonor to the Church 
The cause of these evils, is to be found in the conduct 
of the bishops themselves. The whole head was sick, 
and the whole heart became faint. The Greek pa- 
triarchs were sunk in the lowest degree of ecclesiastical 
infamy. An example of this is seen in the character 
and conduct of the famous or infamous Theophylact 
of Constantinople.* The history of the Roman Pon- 
tiffs may be said to be rather that of monsters, than 
men. The pontificate, atfd indeed almost all the ec- 
clesiastical dignities, remained for a series of years in 
the power and the gift of the infamous Theodora, and 
her daughters Theodora and Marozia. The last of 
these females, procured the elevation of her paramour, 
Sergius III. The adulterous connexion of John X. 



* In the midst of divine service, he hastily retired to ascertain if a favorite 
mare had foaled. 



-OS ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, 

with Theodora the elder, was the cause of his exaltation 

to the archiopiscopate of Ravenna, and subsequently to 

the see of Rome. This lover of Theodora, was strangled 

by order of Marozia her daughter, whose son John XI. 

by Sergius III. succeeded to the papacy on the deaths of 

Leo VI. and Stephen VIII. and ended his days in prison. 

About twenty years after, the grandson of Marozia, by 

Alberic of Tuscany, became while a youth, the pontiff 

of Rome, and set an example to all who succeeded him. 

by changing his name from Octavian, to John XII. 

The crimes and flagitiousness of those who had gone 

before, were nearly forgotten in the horrible impurities of 

this licentious offspring of an abandoned mother. From 

his time through a succession of eight or nine bishops, 

the history of Rome is not so much blackened with 

crime, though destitute of incident. Sylvester II. who 

attained the Roman see at the close of this century was 

Worthy of his rank, and might have done honor to 

brighter times. 

Notwithstanding the edict of Otho the great, which 
forbade the electing of a bishop of Rome without the 
imperial sanction, and remained in force till the close 
of the century, the pontiffs found means by various sin- 
ister arts to infringe the right of princes ; nor were 
there wanting a number of mercenary prelates, who 
were wont to salute them as bishops, not only of the 
city of Rome, but of the whole world. Nay, even 
among the clergy of France, who had hitherto main- 
tained an independent character, there were some who 
affirmed that the authority of bishops, though divine in 
its origin, was conveyed by St. Peter, as prince of the 



CENTURY TENTH. 209 

tposties. It is not uncommon, from this century down- 
ward, to see bishops and abbots invested with the proud 
and worldly honors and titles of dukes, marquises, 
counts, and viscounts. Besides the general ignorance 
and corruption of the clergy, two vices in particular, 
those of concubinage and simony may be laid to their 
charge. The convents and monasteries had now be- 
come the seats of licentiousness and corruption. To at- 
tempt any reform, was attended with fatal consequen- 
ces, to him who ventured to make the effort — a life of 
persecution or a sudden death. More praise than it 
merited, and more success in after years, than it pro- 
perly deserved, attended the new rule, which, anno 927, 
was instituted by Odo, the abbot of Clugni, and which 
under the name of the Order of Clugni, was held in 
such high repute in the following age. 



CHAPTER III. 

DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH. 

\l. The ignorance of the age, incapable of deep re- 
search, and the mutual toleration commendably exer- 
cised, put a stop for a time to the abstruse specula- 
tion on the nature, of the eucharist, pre-destination f 
and grace. This freedom from controversy left room 
for a larger attention to the Saints. John V. by his 
own authority, undertook to enrol Udalric bishop of 
Augsburgh, anno 993, in the number of holy and ce- 
lestial patrc hops however, 



210 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

exercised the right of canonization without appealing 
to the Roman see. Among the opinions which distin- 
guished the Latin Church, and occasioned the utmost 
dread throughout the western world, was the prevalent 
idea founded on Rev. xx. 3, 4, that the end of the 
world was nigh at hand. To monasteries, this opinion 
became the fruitful source of wealth. Multitudes aban- 
doned their civil connexions, and domestic relations, 
and leaving their wealth for the endowment of churches, 
and other religious uses, retired to Palestine, there to 
await the descent of Christ to judge the earth. In the 
midst of this general corruption and ignorance, it may 
well be supposed that theological learning must have 
remained at a stand. Of commentators, there were 
none who are deserving of notice. It remains a mat- 
ter of doubt, whether the works of Olympiodorus and 
CEcumenius belong to this age, and the expositions of 
Remigius are greatly defective. Didactic and moral 
theology were at the lowest ebb, both among the 
Latins and Greeks. Simeon Metaphrastes composed 
among the Greeks some turgid and for the most part 
fictitious narratives of saints, and his example was fol- 
lowed by Harald, Odo, Stephen bishop of Leige, and 
others among the Latins. Leo the philospher, having 
buried three wives, without issue by either, married 
Zoe Carbinopsina, a woman of obscure birth. Upon 
this infraction of the Greek ecclesiastical law, the em- 
peror was excommunicated by Nicolas the patriarch of 
Constantinople. When Leo was dead, the dissensions 
which arose from hence were appeased by a convoca- 
tion of the clergy, assembled in Constantinople, anno 



CENTURY TENTH. 211 

020, in which marriages for the fourth time were posi- 
tively forbidden.* 



CHAPTER IV. 

HISTORY OP RITES. 

The increased number of saints, continually called 
for new accessions of pomp, and ceremonials ; for they 
were thought, as indeed was the Deity himself, to be de- 
lighted with a gorgeous and splendid array of public 
worship. It is also to be observed , that a great part 
of these rites derived their origin from the errors 
which the barbarous nations inherited from their fore- 
fathers, and still retained, even after their conversion 
to Christianity. The clergy, instead of extirpating 
these errors, gave them a Christian aspect, either by 
inventing certain religious rites, to cover their deformi- 
ty, or by explaining then! in a forced allegorical man- 
ner. To the public festivals already in use, three 
others in this century were added to the Latin calen- 
dar. A day was celebrated, in remembrance of all de- 
parted souls, in imitation of the example set by the 
pious zeal of Odilo Abbot of Clugni, who was anxious 
to extend the benefit of Christian prayers to all the 
souls who labored under the torments of purgatory. 
Towards the close of the century, was instituted what 
the Latins denominate the lesser office, in honor of the 
virgin Mary ; and there are also to be found, no slight 

* The clergy of the Greek church are not alleged to marry widows. 



212 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, 

indications of the institution entitled the rosary and 
crown of the virgin. The former of these consists of 
fifteen repetitions of the Lord's prayer, and ten times 
as many salutations of St. Mary, while the latter com- 
prises about half the number of pater nosters, and hall 
as many Ave Marias. 



CHAPTER V. 

OF HERESIES. 



The profound stupidity which marks the character of 
the age had at least the advantage of preventing the rise of 
new sects. The Manicheans or Paulicians of the pre- 
ceding century, still continued to gain in numbers, in the 
East and the West. The Nestorians and Monophysites 
began to experience a more adverse fortune than hitherto 
under the Arabian dominion, but their skill in medical 
science, and the prudence of their spiritual guides, averted 
in some degree the storm which lowered over them. In 
Italy there arose about the year 939, the sect of the An- 
thropomorphites who entertained the opinion that the 
Deity was clothed in a human form, seated like a monarch 
on a throne of gold, and thus worshipped by his angels 
arrayed in white garments and furnished with wings to 
render them expeditious in executing his orders. Its pro- 
gress was impeded by the efforts of Ratherius bishop of 
Verona. At the close of the century, Leuthard a man of 
obscure rank, declared war in the diocese of Chalons , 
against all kinds of images, and refused the priests their 
tythes. Exposed in his extravagance, by Gebuin bis 
bishop, he threw himself into a well and perished. 



CENTURY ELEVENTH. 

CHAPTER I. 

OUTWARD STATE OF THE CHURCH. 

Prog?' ess of the Church. 

§ 1. Among the Danes, Hungarians, Poles, Russians, 
and other nations, the knowledge of Christianity was still 
farther extended, by their teachers and kings. In Tartary 
and the neighboring nations, the zeal of the Nestorians, 
added considerable numbers daily to the kingdom of 
Christ. In the provinces of Casgar, Nuacheta, Turkes- 
tan, Genda, and Tangut, Metropolitans and other infe- 
rior bishops were established, under the broader jurisdic- 
tion of the patriarch of the sect, who resided in Chaldea.* 
In the year 1059, Robert Guiscard a Norman leader, and 
afterwards duke of Apulia, drove the Saracens from Sici- 
ly and restored the religion of the cross. Most of the 
Roman pontiffs and especially Gregory VII. had long con- 
templated a rescue of those lands in the East which once 
professed the blessings of the Christian religion from the 
power of the infidels and the Mahometan faith. The 
favorable opportunity at last was supplied to Urban II. 

* It is asserted that in this century the King of a Tartar nation called Kerit 
embraced Christianity with his people. The princes of this nation bearing for 
two hundred years the name of Ung-Chan or King John and affecting the dig- 
nity of presbyters has given rise to the story of the famous Prester John who?e 
kingdom is reputed to have been somewhere in Abyssinia. See Gibber- 
Dec: and Fall 

18* 



214 ECCLESIASTG'AL HISTORY. 

by the zealous and enthusiastic efforts of Peter the hermit 
a native of Amiens. 

Traversing Europe, anno 1093, and proclaiming him 
self the organ of divine inspiration, this devoted eccle- 
siastic roused the princes into a furious ambition of res- 
cuing from the hands of their infidel conquerors, the 
places which had once been honored by the miracles 
and presence of the Saviour of the world. A light and 
credulous age was with little difficulty persuaded to credit 
his fables and listen to his warm and inflammatory decla- 
mations. Animated by the general excitement which was 
felt, and perceiving the augmentation of power which 
would accrue to himself from the measure, the pontifl 
Urban II. in the council of Placentia, and then in a fuller 
one* assembled the same year at Clermont, excited vast 
multitudes of the Italians and French to embark in this 
holy war. The crowds which obeyed the summons were 
denominated Croises, from the crosses which every man 
carried on his right shoulder. The war itself was sig- 
nificantly termed a crusade. This dissolute army of 
800,000 souls, after various misfortunes, and more numer- 
ous crimes committed on their march, took possession of 
Nice in the first place, and afterwards of Edessa, Anti- 
och, and other cities. The division which remained un- 
der the command of the renowned Godfrey of Bouillon, 
finally captured Jerusalem, anno 1099. In the following 
year> this hero and Christian, was chosen king of Jerusa- 
lem ; and though he refused the crownj which his 
brother Baldwin did not hesitate after his death to accept 

* There were present 200 bishops, 4000 ecclesiastics, and 300,000 laymen, 
t " I cannot consent," he said, " to wear a crown of gold where the king of 
kings was crowned with thorns." 



CENTURY ELEVENTH. 215 

the modest Godfrey governed with equity, valor, and 
prudence, the city of David and birth place of our Lord. 
The motives of the Roman pontiff in favoring the cru- 
sades are evident. The princes of Europe beheld with 
secret satisfaction their dominions evacuated by a race 
of powerful lords, too weak to become sovereigns, and 
too powerful to submit to the lawful authority of their 
feudal superiors. But whatever were the causes which 
produced the crusades, their effects were injurious in the 
highest extreme, to both parts of the Christian world. 
Europe was drained of a vast population, and immense 
stores of wealth ; the most outrageous excesses were 
every where committed ; the power and the tyranny of 
the bishops of Rome, was greatly augmented ; and the 
reign of superstition was strengthened by the hordes of 
relics which were purchased at. a great expense, and 
transported from the Holy Land. In reflecting upon 
these circumstances, we shall not be surprised, that the 
justice and legality of these religious wars, should in 
after times, be called in question by many, and especially 
by the Waldenses or Cathari. 

Trials of the Church, 

§ The Saracens, themselves oppressed w T ith various 
and great calamites by the Turks, proved bitter enemies 
of their Christian subjects. Torn by internal dissen- 
sions, and enervated alike by the exhaustion of their 
treasures, and the licentiousness which prevailed among 
them, the Greeks could oppose nothing to the impetuous 
course of Turkish ambition. The Saracens in Spain 
allured multitudes of weak and unstable professors of the 



ZiO ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

Christian name, to embrace the religion of Mahomet. 
Bat the methods they employed were the milder ones of 
rewards, intermarriage, and advantageous contracts. At 
length Ferdinand I. king of Leon and Castile, having 
attacked the Saracens and defeated them in several 
pitched battles, recovered from them a great part of their 
territories and possessions. Those among the Danes, 
Hungarians, and Slavi, who yet adhered to the religion 
and worship of their ancestors, cruelly harrassed their 
neighbors who embraced the gospel faith ; but the Chris- 
tian princes finally put a stop to these outrages by their 
its against idolatrv. 



CHAPTER II. 

STATE OF LEARNING AND TEACHERS. 

Of Learning, 

vi. To the Saracenic and Turkish conquests, by 
which we may account for the decay of learning among 
the Greeks, may be added the more fatal and effectual 
evils, of civil discord, frequent seditions, and the vio- 
lent revolutions, which shook from time to time the 
imperial throne. In the midst of this darkness, which 
was rapidly spreading over the face of the eastern 
world, the name and the merits of Alexius Comnenus 
shone forth with superior lustre. But of all the illustri- 
ous men, who endeavored to stop the progress of fleeting 
iition, Michael Psellus, the expounder and advocate 
of the writings and philosophy of Aristotle, must just- 



CENTURY ELEVENTH. K 2\7 

\y be ranked the foremost. The arts and sciences 
seemed, in some measure, to revive in the West ; at 
least among the clergy, and some of the monastic or- 
ders. In Italy were founded after the year 1050, many 
and flourishing schools, from which issued, as from 
a species of literary depots, men of learning and 
parts, who carried with them into France, and the 
neighboring countries, a taste for the sciences and a love 
of the humane arts. The Augustus of this age, was Ro- 
bert, the king of France ; the effects of whose liberali- 
ty continued after his death, which occurred in the 
year 1031. The restoration of letters in England, 
was due to the Normans ; and William the Conqueror, 
on ascending the English throne, anno 1066, encour- 
aged, as far as possible, the ingress of learning and 
learned men into his new dominions. In the course of 
the century, the field of learning began to be more ex- 
tensively cultivated. The sciences were no longer con- 
fined to the cloister. Learned men who had travelled, 
or had improved their stock of erudition by the diligent 
perusal of Arabian authors, undertook the instruction 
of youth, and extended the course of study beyond the 
limits by which it had hitherto been circumscribed. 
The school of Salernum, in the kingdom of Naples, was 
renowned above all others for the study of physic, and 
became the resort of those who desired to attain emi- 
nence in the medical art. In almost all the schools 
erected in this century, the seven liberal arts formed 
the regular routine of study. From the first stage of 
science, denominated triviurn y the ambitious student 
passed into the quadrivium. Without the study of me- 



21$ ECCLESIASTICAL IIISTOKV. 

taphysics, which properly belonged to logic, and which 
was generally looked upon as queen of the sciences, no 
man's education was thought to be complete. Philoso- 
phy, in this century, was confined to dialectics, and 
this was principally drawn from the ten catagories at- 
tributed to St. Austin, or else from the explanations of 
the Aristotelian philosophy, by Porphyry and Averrocs. 
In this branch of learning, the most eminent men were. 
Berenger, Roscellinus, Gilbert, the famous Abelard, 
Lanfranc, Anselem, and Odo : These restorers of logic 
were, however, divided among themselves by bitter dis- 
putes. The one party, called Nominalists, which was 
headed by John the sophist, maintained, that universals 
were nothing more than words, and pleaded the author- 
ity of Aristotle for their opinion. The other party, 
called Realists, who were headed by Odo, asserted 
that universals were undoubted realities, and supported 
their sentiments by quotations from Plato, Boethius, 
and the sages. 

Of the Clerical Order. 

§2. The condition of the clergy, in this century, and 
of ecclesiastical discipline, was truly deplorable. The 
Roman pontiffs now gained, though not without difiicul- 
ties and much opposition, that supreme jurisdiction 
which had long been the goal of all their ambitious 
hopes.* 

Leo IX was the first to assume the power, of transfer- 
ring territories and provinces from one prince to another. 



* In-this age they acquired the exclusive right of being distinguished is 
ropes or universal bishops. 



CfiNTtf'&t ELEVENTH. 219 

John XVII., John XVIII. ; and Sergius IV. neither did nor 
attempted any thing worthy of note. Benedict VIII. 
being driven from Rome by his competitor Gregory, was 
restored by the emperor Henry II. John XIX. succeed- 
ed and was followed by Benedict IX. who was driven 
from the papal chair on account of his crimes, but was 
afterwards reinstated by the emperor Conrad. A second 
time deposed, anno 1044, his place was filled by Sylves- 
ter.*" Between him and Gregory, who had purchased the 
papacy from Benedict IX. there were continued alter- 
cations. Gregory was convicted of simony and in his 
stead the emperor Henry II. caused Clement to be ap- 
pointed Pope. Upon the deatn of this pontiff, Bene- 
dict IX. for the third time aspired to papal power, and 
was again compelled to yield it to Damasus II. Dama* 
sus was succeeded by Leo IX. who was afterwards en- 
rolled in the number of the saints After the death of 
Leo, the papal chair was rilled in succession, by Victor II. 
Stephen IX. and Nicolas IL Nicolas procured the passage 
of a law, by which the cardinalf bishops and presbyters, 
with the consent of the people, and without any preju- 



* Reckoned aii antipope by Romish writers. 

t Cardinals at first, were only the principal incumbents of the parishes of 
Rome. The chief priest of a parish, was called presbyter cardinctlis, to distin- 
guish him from the other priests, who had no Church preferment. Under Gre- 
gory the great, the cardinal priests or deacons were only*such priests and dea- 
cons as had a church or chapel under their particular care. The cardinal 
bishops, and the cardinal clerics or presbyters, were the only persons permitted 
by the edict of Nicolas to choose the Pope. The former were the seven bish- 
ops who belonged to the city and territory of Rome, and the latter were the 
ministers of the eight and twenty Roman parishes. The cardinal deacons were 
ranked among the inferior clergy. 



2 20 ECCLESIASTICAL IIISTORY. 

dice to the ancient rights of the emperors, should alone 
have the power of choosing the pope. The first assump- 
tion of power by the cardinals, in electing Alexander II. 
as successor to Nicolas, without consulting the empe- 
ror, occasioned vehement disputes ; which were still more 
increased, when Hildebrand attained the pontificate. No 
pontiff has been more renowned for energetic determina- 
tion, and persevering efforts in forwarding the interests of 
the see of Rome, than Hildebrand a Tuscan by birth, 
and of obscure parentage. This remarkable man from 
the time he ascended the papal chair, anno 1073, when 
he took the name of Gregory VII., seemed to have had 
no other object in view than to render the bishop of Rome 
the sovereign master of the Christian world. Of an un- 
common genius, bold, sagacious, obstinate, proud, and 
impetuous, he never for a moment hesitated between his 
means and his object. According to his system the suc- 
cessor of St. Peter in the church of Rome, is the vice- 
regent of Christ over all the world, and from him in this 
character, not only all other bishops and pastors of the 
church, but all kings and princes, derive their authority 
and rights, and in such a degree as he pleases to confer. 
This aspiring pontiff, prohibited in a council assembled 
at Rome, anno 1075, the marriage of the clergy, but not 
without considerable opposition on their side. At the 
same time he condemned as guilty of simony all those 
who should receive either lands or possessions at the 
hands of any layman. 

It had for some ages been usual for recently created 
bishops and abbots, to receive, from the hands of prin- 
ces the crosier and the ring, to signify that they legally 



CENTURY ELEVENTH. 22 t 

held their land, in the capacity of clients. To this 
ceremony was given the appellation of Investiture. 
The bishops who on this ground were found guilty of 
simony, the emperor, Henry IV. could not be induced 
to expel. And when Gregory arrogantly and boldly 
persisted in his purpose, the emperor assembled at 
Worms, anno 1075, a numerous council of bishops 
and princes, and these deposed Hildebrand from the * 
papacy. The undaunted pontiff, upon this, anathema- 
tizes Henry, and writes to the German princes an or- 
der for the election of another King. The unfortu- 
nate Henry, barefooted, uncovered, and in sordid at- 
tire, implored at the gates of Canusium, a fortress of 
Lombardy, anno 1077, the absolution of his sins and 
forgiveness of Gregory. With difficulty obtained, they 
were soon disregarded. After various conflicts, the 
emperor at last placed Guibert of Ravenna, in the papal 
chair, and after laying siege to Rome, compelled Gregory 
at last to fly for safety to Salernum, where he 
breathed his last. One of his successors, Paul V. has 
dedicated to his memory the 25th of May. Victor 
III. successor of Gregory, confirmed, in a council as- 
sembled at Beneventum, the decrees of his predecessor, 
concerning investitures. Urban II. who followed Vic- 
tor, imprudently exasperated the war by the decrees 
which he caused to be passed in the council of Clair- 
mont, held anno 1095 ; but death put an end to his am- 
bitious hopes, and his ill-advised attempts. Gregory 
VII. endeavored to withdraw the whole order of monks 
from the power and jurisdiction of the bishops, and 
hence, in this age, the immunities of monastic colleges 
19 



222 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

were multiplied in an extreme. Amid the general li- 
centiousness, the monks obtained a high degree of repu- 
tation for their appearance of piety, while their wealth 
and their greatness were continually augmented by do- 
nations and legacies. Of all the monkish orders, none 
flourished so much, or were so much renowned for their 
extraordinary sanctity, as that of Clugni in France. 
The extraordinary estimation in which they were held, 
resulted in the erection of a wealthy society, known 
under the name of the congregation of Clugni. But 
with their wealth, the order of Clugni degenerated like 
others, into indolence and vice. The order of Bene- 
dictines was now divided into minor and separate soci- 
eties. Romuald, an Italian fanatic, anno 1023, in the 
solitudes of Camaldoli, founded the Congregation of 
Camaldolites, whose members are divided into caeno- 
bites and eremites. Shortly after this, John Gualbert 
founded the order which was named from Valombro- 
sa in the Appenines. In the year 1098, Robert, abbot 
of Moleme, laid the foundation of the celebrated order 
called Cistercians. Stephen, a nobleman of Auvergne, 
founded the order of Grandmontains. The founder 
of the Carthusians, anno 1086, was Bruno, a canon of 
Rheims. In the midst of these orders, there arose, 
anno 1095, the new order of St. Anthony, devoted 
to the relief of the miserable and the sick, and espe- 
cially to those who were afflicted with the disorder call- 
ed St. Anthony's fire. 

In correcting the excesses which had crept into the 
Canons, an order between that of the monks and 
secular priests, many worthy and pious men. as well as 



CENTURY ELEVENTH. 223 

the popes, employed their labors. Their efforts were 
not in vain ; and from them resulted a division of the 
order into secular and regular canons, the latter of 
which was in many things more strict and self-denying 
ih an the former. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE DOCTRINE OP THE CHURCH. 

Its Condition and Writers. 

v^i. In the midst of the general corruption, there 
were not wanting some who stood forward, though 
too often with an overstrained zeal as witnesses of the 
truth, and in the history of the times, we discover traces 
of those, who afterwards under the names of Waldenses, 
Albigenses, and Paterni, opposed with fortitude the 
tyranny and dogmas of the Romish see. The Walden- 
ses indeed, affirm, that so early as the eighth century 
their ancestors had lived in the vailies of Piedmont, se- 
parate from the communion of the bishop of Rome. It is 
capable of proof, that in this age there lay concealed both 
in France and other regions, many persons of similar 
sentiments to those which were held by this people. 

Among the Latin expositors, we may mention as de- 
serving of some note, Berengarius, the two Brunos, 
Lanfranc, and pope Gregory. ■ Their prevailing errors 
were a fondness for whimsical interpretations. Theo- 
phylact of Bulgaria, the abridger of St. Chrysostom. 
Michael Pseleus, and Nicetas, were eminent among the 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY . 

Greeks, and less faulty than the Latins. Before this 
century, theologians had been wont to explain the pre- 
cepts of religion, either from the sacred volume or the 
sentiments of their fathers. But logic and metaphy- 
sics, from this time, were looked on as indispensable 
allies to the two former methods. It should however 
be observed, that the scholastics of this age were more 
simple and more sound than those who came after them. 
The first general systems of theology extant, are those 
which were composed by Anselem and Hildebert, the 
latter of whom became the model of the legion of sys- 
tem makers who sprung up in succeeding times. Anselem 
surpassed as a writer on moral theologies, all the 
scholars of his time ; and his book of meditation con- 
tain some excellent and lofty conceptions. John Johan- 
nellus, and Simeon the younger, were of the tribe of 
the mystics. Damian, and Samuel, a convert from Ju- 
daism, defended the truth of Christianity against the 
Jews ; but of all who drew their pens in behalf of the 
gospel, the famous Anselem is by far the most conspi- 
cuous, both in the depth of his argument, and vigor of 
his language. 

Of Controversies. 

§2. The disputes between the Roman and Greek. 
Church, were revived by Michael Cerularius, the pa- 
triarch of Constantinople, from whose jurisdiction the 
Roman pontiff had sought to detach the bishops of 
Antioch and Alexandria. Cerularius, provoked by this 
attempt of Leo IX., closed the Latin churches which 
had been built at Constantinople, and harrassed the 



CENTURY ELEVENTH. 225 

monks who had there adopted the Romish worship, 
Constantino Monomachus, now at the head of the Gre- 
cian empire, fomented the contention. Three legates 
sent at his request to Constantinople, at last proceeded 
to the audacious step of excommunicating publicly, 
from the pulpit of St. Sophia, and with the consent of 
the emperor himself, the Constantinapolitan patriarch 
and all his adherents. To this great cause of the schism 
which now rent asunder the eastern and western church- 
es, we may add the revival of the controversy con- 
cerning images.* 

Besides those vehement contests which arose among 
the Latins concerning the marriage of priests, and the 
extent of papal power, there was one of no small mo- 
ment respecting the Eucharist, which was set on foot 
by Berenger the arch-deacon of Angers. This emi- 
nent ecclesiastic maintained that the bread and wine 
used in the Sacramental supper were not converted into 
the body and the blood of our Lord. Summoned to 
appear before a council, assembled, anno 1059, at 
Rome, he was driven, by the fear of death, to declare 
his approbation of the sentiment, that the body of our 
Saviour was naturally or sensibly present in the holy 
supper. Once freed from his fears, he renounced the 
opinion to which he had been forced to yield a reluc- 
tant consent. Upon the report of a second change, he 
was once more condemned in two successive councils, 



* At last it was detcnr.ined in a council litile known, which was held in the 
ita capital, S^STy.'aa; r^.c-y.uyisuiv a \<tTg§vnxai$ tols tittova?, 

19* 



226 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY- 

summoned at Rome, in the years 1078 and 1079. In 
the last of these councils, he reluctantly signed a third 
recantation, more explicit than that which at Hilde- 
brand's suggestion, who favored the man, and perhaps 
his opinions, he had hitherto made. At length he reti- 
red to the island of Cosme, and there piously ended his 
days, anno 1088, 



CHAPTER IV. 

HISTORY OF RITES. 

The Spaniards had long been accustomed to use, and 
were consequently attached to the Mozarabic or Gothic 
liturgy. But the zeal of the Popes, and especially Hil- 
debrand at last prevailed on the Spaniards to adopt the 
ritual of Rome. A less rational attempt on the part of 
Rome, was the general introduction of the Latin lan- 
guage, into the services of the church, to the exclusion 
of the vernacular tongue. The Christians of the East 
had also fallen into the same error. The Egyptians were 
wont to use in their public liturgies, the old language of 
the Copts ; the Jacobites and Nestorians, the Syriac ; 
and the Abyssinians, the iEthiopic ; all of which had be- 
come obsolete, or were no longer understood by the 
people at large. 

Urban II. instituted at the council of Clairmont the 
Sabbath of St. Mary. Peter the hermit introduced 
into Europe, an old Saracenic practice of repeating rapid- 
ly a certain number of sacred words on a certain num 
ber of little balls. 



CENTURY ELEVENTH. 227" 

CHAPTER V. 

OF HERESIES. 

Between the Manicheans or Paulicians, and the mem- 
bers of the Greek Church, there was continual war, 
Alexius Comnenus, the learned ornament of the Gre- 
cian empire, endeavored to convince by argument, such as 
he could not conquer by arms. Those who submit- 
ted were rewarded, and the obstinacy of the rest was 
punished by imprisonment. Those of these Paulicians 
who passed over into Europe, collected large congrega- 
tions in Italy, and sowed the seeds of contention in the 
Latin world. In Italy they received the appellation of 
Paterini, and Cathari or Gazari ; in France that of 
Albigenses* or Bulgarians, Paulicians, and Bonihomi- 
nes. The first assembly of this sect appears to have 
been formed at Orleans, anno 1017. The general char- 
acter of their notions is with difficulty ascertained, but 
it appears to have been allied to that of the mystics. An 
intricate controversy was occasioned in France, anno 
1089, by Roscellinus, a canon of Compigne, and a 
nominalist in sentiment. He maintained that the per- 
sons of the trinity, w 7 ere three objects or natures existing 
separately. Twice an exile, and out of favor with many 
from the eagerness he expressed to shut out of the 
priestly office illegitimate children, he retired to Aquitam 
and there ended his days. 



* Passing over into the country of the real Albigenses they were sometimes 
confounded with that people, who alike with themselves bad acquired th© 
i or heretics. 



CENTURY TWELFTH. 

CHAPTER I. 

OUTWARD STATE OF THE CHURCH. 

Progress of the Church. 

§1. Otho bishop of Bamburg, anno 1224, converted 
many of the Pomeranians. The Norwegians in this 
century renounced their idolatry. The Livonians at first 
instructed by a company of merchants were at length 
compelled to embrace the gospel by the arms of the 
military order of the Swordbearers. Eric IX. king of 
Sweden, compelled the Finlanders to receive the 
gospel, anno 1157. Vicelinus, a native of Hamelen, con- 
verted the Sclavonians, Venedi, and inhabitants of Hol- 
satia and Mecklin burgh. The island of Rugen was 
forced to acknowledge the Christian religion, by Walde- 
mar the Danish monarch, who also undertook several 
other expeditions for the ause of the gospel, against the 
Sclavonians, Venedi, and Vandals. 

The Christian kingdom, which was founded at the 
close of the last century, by the arms of the Crusaders 
in the heart of the holy land, soon exhibited the evil 
consequences of the jealousy of the Greeks, the discord 
of the Christians, and the cruelty and licentiousness 
which every where prevailed. The emperor Conrad, 



CENTURY TWELFTH. 

uid the French king Lewis VII., endeavored to restore 
in a fresh expedition, anno 1146, the declining cause 
of the Christians. Their efforts were unsuccessful, and 
the princes themselves, with a handful of companions, 
returned with difficulty to their almost depopulated king- 
doms. Jerusalem itself was assaulted and taken, anno 
1187, by the Sultan Saladin of Egypt ; nor could it be 
recovered in a third expedition, which was headed by 
the emperor Frederick Barbarossa, Philip Augustus,* 
king of France, and the lion-hearted Richard of Eng- 
land. These crusades, as they were termed, gave rise 
to the institution of three orders of knighthood. The 
first of these were the knights of St, John of Jerusalem. 
who successively established themselves in Cyprus, 
Rhodes, and Malta. The second was that of the war- 
like knights Templars, who were finally suppressed on a 
charge of grievous crimes. The third order was that of the 
Teutonic knights of St Mary, who were altogether Ger- 
mans, and to their military character united that of at- 
tendants upon the poor and the needy. When driven 
from Palestine, they took possession of Prussia, where 
some are said even still to reside. 

Trials of the Church. 

§2. The Jews had now lost the power to harrass the 
Christians. The pagans were yet numerous in seve- 
ral of the northern provinces, but their efforts against 
Christianity, were checked by the Christian princes. 
The state of the East was by no means so favorable to 
the gospel. The rage and cruelty of the Saracens 
against all who professed the name of Christ, is attested 



!30 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

by numerous historians. Their fierce nature was roused 
by the rash descent of the Christians on their empire, 
and on every occasion they amply revenged the injuries 
they had received. 



CHAPTER II. 

STATE OF LEARNING AKD TEACHERS- 

Of Learning. 

§1. The Greeks, though afflicted and borne down by 
misfortunes, still endeavored to maintain their ancient 
renown in literature and the arts.* Eustathius the ce- 
lebrated commentator on Homer, Glycas, Nicephorus 
and Bryennius, sufficiently demonstrate the ambition, 
with which fame of a literary kind, was both sought 
and deserved among the Greeks of this age. Between 
the followers of Aristotle and Plato, there still was car- 
ried on a most vehement war ; the success of which 
indeed was rather in favor of the latter. The pursuit 
of knowledge was pursued with an incredible emulation 
in the western world. Hence arose numerous socie- 
ties of erudite men, which in the following age received 
the appellation of Universities. The first of these col- 
leges, as well in age as in merits, were those of Paris 
and her sister cities of Angers, and Montpelier, with 
Bolognia, and Salernum, in Italy. To the Trivium and 



s This may, in a great degree, be attributed to the laudable zeal 
patriarchs of Constantinople, and the emperors of the Comnenian dyi 



CENTURY TWELFTH. 

Quadrivium there were added in this age, philoso- 
phic or scholastical theology, civil and canonical juris- 
prudence, and lastly, medicine, which they denominated 
physick. The academy of Bolonia, on the discovery at 
Amain, anno 1137, of a manuscript copy of the Pan- 
dects of Justinian, began to cultivate with the utmost 
zeal the Roman jurisprudence. It also introduced in 
consequence of the exhortations of pope Eugenius III. 
the canon laws of which a compound had been drawn up 
by Gratian. The philosophy of this age was distinguish- 
ed in the following manner. 

I. The Theoretical. II. The Practical. 

Natural Theology. Ethics. 

Mathematics. Economics. 

Physics. Politics. 

III. Mechanics. IV. Logic. 

The seven arts useful Grammar, 

for the purposes of Rhetoric, 

life, viz. navigation, Dialectics or Meta- 

agriculture, hunt- physics, 

ing, &c. Sophistry. 

Of the Clerical Order. 

$2. A too faithful picture is given of the vices pre- 
valent among the clergy, by St. Bernard, in his Jive 
boohs of reflections, dedicated to the pontiff Eugenius. 
At Rome, the seat of ecclesiastical empire, every thing 
was in disorder. Who is not indignant, — who does not 
condemn the conduct of pope Paschal II. towards Hen- 
ry IV. ? This unfortunate emperor could not be induced 
to relinquish his claims on the subject of investitures. 



232 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, 

The Roman pontiff was inflexible, and the unhappy 
prince was at length deprived by his unnatural son, 
Henry V. of his throne and dominions. But Henry 
V. was found to be as unyielding as even his father had 
been, on the subject of investitures. The war was 
again kindled. The pontiff was taken prisoner, and 
compelled, anno 11 11, as the price of liberfy, to con- 
cede to the emperor the right of investing all bishops 
and abbots with the crosier and ring. Hence sprung still 
greater tumults. In the midst of them, Paschal died, and 
the prudent pope Calixtus II. submitted to the following 
terms : That the crosier and ring be given to the 
newly elected ecclesiastical dignitaries, and that the em- 
peror should confer the regalia by the sceptre and not 
by the crosier and ring, upon the bishops and abbots 
who were to be elected in his presence, or that of his 
legate, after vowing an allegiance to him for their tem- 
poral possessions. This Concordat was solemnly ap- 
proved of by ihe Lateran council in the following year. 
The contest between the popes and the emperors, which 
remained settled for several pontificates, was again re- 
vived by the emperor Frederick I. or Barbarossa, with 
pope Adrian IV. and his successor, Alexander III. The 
gallant prince, after enduring a series of hardships for 
the space of fourteen years, was induced to implore 
the clemency of Alexander, and receive as a suppliant 
the sacramental bread at his hands. The ambition of 
the church became in this century exceeding trouble- 
some to the monarchs of England, and to none more 
so, than the incautious Henry II. To the salutary 
laws which this prince had enacted at the council oi 



CENTURY TWELFTH. 1 

Clarendon? the archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas-a~ 
Becket, refused to render obedience. Some hasty ex- 
pressions which fell from the lips of Henry, inflamed 
the zeal of some of his courtiers, and the prelate was 
slain during vespers, at the altar, anno 1 170. The mon- 
arch, though guiltless in reality of the crime, was con- 
demned by Alexander III. to a severe course of pe- 
nance, which, in order to demonstrate his sincere sorrow 
for the act of his friends, he rigorously complied 
with. All the monkish orders united, and sometimes 
by force of arms, in defending their property against 
the attempts of the powerful and neighboring lords, 
who endeavored to wrest it from them. To restore the 
regular canons to their former discipline, Robert, a Ger- 
man nobleman and archbishop of Magdeburg, institu* 
ted the new order of Premontre. Robert de Arbri- 
selles founded a monastery in Fontevraud, ^om which 
the order derives its name, and whose singular regula- 
tion, that both monks and nuns should be subject to one 
abbess, procured it a great success. The Carmelite 
order was founded in the year 1160, by Albert, patri« 
arch of Jerusalem ; but is fond of tracing their ori- 
gen as high as the prophet Elias. 



CHAPTER III. 

DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH. 

Its Condition and Writers. 

§1. It was the policy of Rome to bend the precepts 

of Christianity to the purposes of their ambition. The 
20 



234 ECCLESIASTICAL HlSTOItV. 

priests and the monks, with some honorable exceptions, 
were content to dazzle the eyes of an ignorant people, 
with a ludicrous pomp, and with a ceremonious worship, 
which was gainful to themselves. The scholastic doc- 
tors, instead of explaining with simplicity the scriptures, 
defaced them by a mixture of vain philosophy, which 
they looked on as the criterion of truth. The mystics 
on the other hand not only set limits to the pretensions 
of reason, but excluded it entirely from morality and 
religion. The collection of relics, still continued a 
lucrative trade. Many gave themselves out as divinely 
inspired, and easily drew after them a credulous mul- 
titude ; while the sale of indulgencies or remission of 
certain sins for a stipulated sum, was a fruitful source 
of gain to the Roman pontiffs, who finally engrossed it 
out of the hands of the bishops into their own. To this 
source of crime, we may add the new doctrine which 
began to gain ground, that the church had it in her 
power to distribute where she pleased an immense trea- 
sury of merits, which the saints had performed beyond 
what was necessary for their own salvation. 

The Greek and Latin commentators, were accustomed 
to expound the scriptures with a servile reference to 
the exposition of the ancients. Examples of this among 
the Greeks, are found in the writings ofEuthymius Ziga- 
benus ; among the Latins, in those of Gilbert Porretan, 
Peter Lombard, and even Abelard. 

Of all the writers who combined the authority of the 
ancients and the rules of the dialectics, none have equal- 
led the brilliant reputation of Peter Lombard, bishop of 



CENTURY TWELFTH. 235 

Paris, who obtained for his four books of sentences,* an 
astonishing degree of authority among the learned men 
of his time. The disciples of Lombard, who were called 
Scntentiarii, avoided in a great degree the subtleties 
which characterize the writings of the dialecticians. 
The author of the method called scholastic, was the 
renowned Peter Abelard, whose fame and whose learn- 
ing soon procured him a host of followers. From this 
period, we may date the important distinction which 
divided the Christian teachers into 

I. II. III. 

The Bible, or The Dogmatic, or The Scholastic, 
Ancient doctors. Poslitve. Sentrnnarii. or New* 

The two former who are sometimes included under 
the same class, explained the sacred volume simply by 
reference to the word of God itself, or to ancient tradi- 
tion. The last devoted themselves altogether to ex- 
pound the famous book of sentences, and involved every 
question in fine spun and subtile disputations. The 
old conflict, in a word, was once more renewed between 
reason and faith. The most eminent of the mystics, 
were Joachim, Abbot of Flori, and Richard St. Victor, 
who opposed the dialecticians. The most powerful 
and influential opponent of the scholastics, was the ce- 
lebrated St. Bernard, Abbot of Clarivaux. None felt 
the effects of his enmity and power, more than the re- 
nowned Peter Abelard, whom he accused in the coun- 
cils of Soissons and Sens, anno 1140, of various perni- 
cious errors, and finally caused to be condemned as an 

* From this he derives his name of master of the stntenctx. 



236 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

heretic. Philip Solitarius was the principal Grecian 
writer in moral theology. The scholastic authors 
among the Latins, discoursed about virtue as they did 
about truth, in an arid and insipid jargon. The mystics 
were sometimes confused, but were often sublime and 
beautiful, and treated the subject of morals, in a manner 
at once tender, persuasive, and affecting. Zigabenus. 
in a work called Panoplia, attacked the various he- 
resies which troubled the church ; to him we may 
join Zonaras, and Constantinus Hermanopulus. Ho- 
norius, among the Latins, composed a book concerning 
heresies, and Abelard wrote against them all. Gilbert 
de Castilian, Odo, Peter Alphonsus, Richard-a-St. Vic- 
tor, and Peter Plessensis, directed their polemic skill 
against the Jews. 

Of Controversies. 

§2. The controversies already mentioned between the 
Greeks and Latins were still carried on with heat and 
rancor. The reconciling of these differences was often at- 
tempted by the emperors, especially by those of the Comne- 
nian family. The patriarchs of the Greeks, could by no 
means be induced to yield an implicit obedience to the 
Roman pontiffs, or condemn the conduct of their ances- 
tors. We pass over the obscure contests which were agi- 
tated among the Greeks ever fond of nice disputes, such 
for instance as those which were stirred concerning the 
exact meaning of our Saviour's declaration, my Father 
is greater than I. The Latins still continued to dispute 
warmly concerning the nature of the eucharist, the will 
and omnipotence of God, the immaculate conception of 
the virgin Mary, and some other similar subjects, 



CENTURY TWELFTH. 237 

CHAPTER IV. 

HISTORY OF RITES. 

The Grecian, Nestorian, and Jacobite patriarchs, en 
(ieavored by minute changes in the worship of their 
churches, to perpetuate their memories. Some intro- 
duced new methods of reading or reciting the prayers of 
the church ; others altered the church music ; and 
others tortured their inventions to discover some new 
marks of veneration for the relics and images of the 
saints. From a work of Rupert de Duytz on the sub- 
ject of divine offices, we may learn the rites which were 
in use among the Latins of this age. The profound 
reverence which had hitherto been paid to the virgin, 
was rather augmented than diminished. A sharp con- 
troversy had been raised concerning her immaculate con- 
ception, and that error was perpetuated in many places, 
by the observation of a new festival, notwithstanding the 
opposition of St. Bernard and others. 



CHAPTER V e 

OF HERESIES. 



A continued and acrimonious warfare, was carried on by 
the Greek and other Oriental Christians of this century, 
against numerous orders of fanatics. The eastern Chris- 
tians were wont to stigmatize the whole class by the 
appellation of Euchites or Messalians, words of similar 
signification. The most noted of these heretics, was 
20* 



238 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

the sect of the Bogomiles, resembling the ancient Mani- 
cheans, and founded by Basilius a monk of Constanti- 
nople.* The zeal of those who reprehended the vices of 
the clergy, was for the most part without knowledge, and 
the rashness of their enthusiasm, often degenerated into 
heresy. To those illiterate sects, who furnished subjects 
for the sword and faggot to the partizans of the Roman 
see, may be referred the Petrobrussians, Henricians, and 
Calkari. 

The followers of Tranquilinus, a fanatic of Brabant, 
and of Eon a French madman, who gave himself out 
for the son of God, are scarcely deserving of notice. 
But no sect has acquired a greater reputation, or a more 
deserved fame, even from its enemies, than that which 
from its author has been called Waldenses, from its birth 
place Poor men of Lions or Leonists, and from the 
wooden shoes they wore lnsabbatati. Peter Waldo, an 
opulent and pious merchant of Vaux, had engaged a cer- 
tain priest to translate the four gospels from the Latin 
tongue into French. The perusal of them convinced 
him that the religion of the church of Rome very mate- 
rially differed from that which had been preached by 
our Lord and his apostles. Upon this he associated 
KTmself with some pious individuals, distributed his. 
wealth among the poor, and widely propagated his sen- 
timents, notwithstanding the most violent opposition 
from the clergy. f The Waldenses attempted to intro- 



* Their name is derived from the Mysian word bog, signifying mercy be- 

rause they perpetually implored the mercy and favor of God. 

t The English translator of Mosheim appears to have mistaken that learned 

author's sentiments, who by no means denies that the Protestant faith existed 

before the time of Waldo. The Albigenses, were of a date prior to the Wal 

denses, with whom holding sentiments in common, they were afterwards con* 



CENTURY TWELFTH. 239 

duce no new doctrines. They maintained that indul- 
gences were a pernicious innovation, and hy all means 
to be set aside ; that all Christians were bound to ex- 
hort one another ; and that masses and prayers for the 
dead were not only an useless, but an unscripturalprac- 
tice. Their form of ecclesiastical government was by 
bishops, (whom they called major ales ,) presbyters, and 
deacons, which three orders they acknowledged to have 
been instituted by Christ himself. The laity were divi- 
ded into the Perfect and Imperfect: the former of 
whom voluntarily renounced their worldly possessions, 
while the latter conformed more to the general prac- 
tice of Christians. Of the more obscure, sects who are 
classed or are known as belonging to this century, it is 
sufficient to barely mention the Pasagini, who adhered 
inmost things to the law of Moses, and denied the divin- 
ity of Christ, the Caputiati, who desired to create a 
perfect equality among mankind, and the Apostolics 
who denied the legality of oaths, and preferred celibacy 
to wedlock. Arnold of Brescia, a disciple of Abelard, 
for some rash attempts co expose the luxury of the 
clergy, w T as at length burnt at Rome in the year 1155, 
Gilbert de la Porre was charged, by St. Bernard, with 



founded. Some Mamcheans. sett-ling among the Albigenses, brought upon 
that peoplt the charge of being tinctured with their heresy; from which 
charge the Waldenses were wbcjy exempt. Both, however, appear, a3 is 
shewn by Dr. Allix in opposition to the bishop of Mieux, to have held the 
same opinions, and to have been branded as heretics, and this not for points of 
faith, but for opposition to the see of Rome. The truth seems to be, that God 
never left himself without a witness- that the Albigenses existed from age to 
age, preserving the gospel pure io their sequestered vallies, and that at length 
they amalgamated with their neighbors the Waldenses. The Albigenses were 
so called from the town of Albiga. 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

maintaining that there was an abstract difference be- 
tween theproperties and persons of the deity, and that 
the person of the Word assumed with his divine nature 
the human. His cause was tried before the council of 
Paris, anno 1147, and afterwards was transferred to 
RheimSj where he submitted his own opinion to that 
pc Eugenius III. 



CENTURY THIRTEENTH. 

CHAPTER V. 

OUTWARD STATE OF THE CHURCH. 

Progress of the Church. 

§1. The conquests of Ginghiz-Chan, and those of his 
successors over a great part of China, India, and Per- 
sia, involved the Christians of those countries, in nu- 
merous calamities. It is however evident, from the testi- 
mony of many of the best writers, that numerous assem- 
blies of Nestorians, were still scattered throughout the 
whole of northern Asia and China ; nay, that some of 
the Mogul emperors themselves embraced the faith of 
the gospel. Ambassadors were accordingly sent to 
Imng over, if possible, the Tartars, and reconcile the 
Nestorians to the see of Rome. Nicholas III. deputed 
a solemn embassy to Coblai, the emperor of the whole 
Tartar nation : and another expedition was subsequent- 
ly fitted out by Pope Nicholas IV., with conciliatory 
letters, to the Nestorian Churches. These efforts were 
not without a salutary effect. Many of the Tartars were 
converted, and the New Testament was translated into 
the Mogul tongue. Upon the decline of the Christian 
cause in Palestine, Innocent III. excited a certain num- 
ber of French nobles, in conjunction with the state of 
Venice, to undertake another expedition, anno 1204, into 
the holy land, Turning their attention from the pro- 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

posed design they had in view, these crusaders made an 
attack upon the empire of the Greeks. Constantinople 
was taken, and Baldwin, count of Flanders, was placed 
on the throne. In the year 1218, Leopold, duke of 
Austria, and king of Hungary, led another army into 
the East. Two years afterwards, Frederic II. follow- 
ed with an inconsiderable number of troops, and re- 
covered by negotiation the city of Jerusalem. Lewis 
IX. of France, entered twice on the holy war, in the 
years 1248, and 1270. This last expedition terminated 
(he attempts of the European princes to recover the 
holy land. Lewis died of the pestilence at Tunis, and 
from the year 1291, we may date the extinction of the 
Latin empire in the East.* The knights of the Teu- 
tonic order compelled, by force of arms, the Prussians' 
and Lithuanians, to renounce their idolatorous wor- 
ship ; and James I. king of Arragon, endeavored to 
convert his conquered Arabic subjects. 

Trials of the Church. 

x\2. The sensual propensities of the Tartar nation, 
were illy suited to the holy and self-denying precepts of 
the gospel. The Christian dominion, as we have seen, 
was extinguished in the East, and the Saracens, in 
various ways, afflicted the Christians. Many of the 
Latins, on the entire overthrow of the Christian king- 
dom in Jerusalem, retired to the dark and solitary wilds 



* After a duration of 57 years, the empire of Ike F.anks at Constantinople, 
ad fallen before the efforts of Michael PalcEologus, who at first had his seal 

■ ' • !^<Mnia. 



CENTURY THIRTEENTH. 243 

of Libanus, and lost by degrees all traces of civiliza- 
tion, as well as of religion.* The latin writers of this 
age complain loudly of the growth of licentious and 
infidel writers ; some of whom were even bold enough 
to deny the existence of God. Frederick II. and his 
minister, Peter de Vineis, were charged by the parasites 
of the see of Rome, with a contempt for all religion. 
From this groundless accusation arose the story of a de- 
testable production, under the title of the three impos- 
tors, and which their enemies fathered upon the monarch 
and his friend. 



CHAPTER II. 



STATE OF LEARNING AND TEACHERS. 

Of Learning. 

§1. Under every disadvantage the Greeks still re* 
tained a portion of their ancient zeal in the cause of 
learning. Nicephorus Blemmides and Gregory Pachy- 
meres, shone in philosophy ; but of all the eastern 
writers none have acquired a more deserved reputation 
as a judicious divine, an eminent historian, and a good 
philosopher, than Gregory Abulphararius, primate of 
the Jacobites, and a Syrian by birth. The liberal arts 
and almost every branch of knowledge, were taught in 
the schools of Paris, Bononia, Padua, Naples, Thou- 
louse, Salamanca, Cologne, and Oxford, whither as to the 

* The Druses claim to be decendants of the Franks. 



244 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

most eminent literary institutions a great concourse oi 
ingenuous youth resorted for the acquisition of science* 
The emulation among the learned was greatly encou- 
raged by the emperor Frederick II. and Alphonso X. 
king of Castile and Leon. In the academy of Paris, 
which first received the title of a University, the 
branches of learning were divided into four classes or 
facilities. The works of Aristotle were every where 
studied, as the foundation of knowledge, and a transla- 
tion of them made from the Greek into Latin. A long, 
intricate and laborious course of study, awaited those 
who were desirous of assuming the office of teachers. 
Some examples of those who cultivated the liberal 
arts, both with zeal and success, may be found ki 
Mattheus, Ximenius, Buto, and Gervais of Tilbury. 
The most eminent philologians were Bacon, Martini, 
Balbus, and Capeto. In philosophical pursuits, the 
palm is due to Alexander Hales, an English franciscan, 
called the irrefragable doctor, to Albert the great, the 
fiominican bishop of Ratisbon, to Thomas Aquimas. 
distinguished by the name of evangelical doctor, and to 
the celebrated Bacon. # 

Of the Clerical Order. 

§2. The ecclesiastical world still groaned under a 
mass of superstition and crime, as is testified by all the 



* This eminent franciscan friar, of the English nation, known by the title 
q| admirable doctor, struck out for himself a new path in philosophy, v-as 
deeply versed in mathematics, chemistry, the mechanic arts, and the learned 
languages, and a> is most probable, invented gunpov.der. 



CENTURY THIRTEENTH. 24j 

Liiidid historians of the age. The Roman pontiffs 
pressed their power to its utmost verge, and sought to 
increase that influence bequeathed them by their prede- 
cessors in the papal chair, by every means in their pow- 
er, whether of force, policy, or arms. But these ambi- 
tious attempts met with considerable resistance, and es- 
pecially from Lewis IX. king of France, who before 
he set out for the holy land, secured the rights of the 
Gallican church, by the famous edict, denominated the 
pragmatic sanction. Innocent III. created kings at 
his pleasure, both in Europe and Asia. He conferred 
the royal dignity on Primislaus duke of Bohemia, and 
Johannicius duke of Bulgaria. He crowned with his 
own hand Peter II. of Arragon, placed the imperial 
diadem on the head of Otho IV. from whom he remo- 
ved it in favor of Frederick II. his own pupil, and 
excommunicated Philip Augustus king of France, for 
divorcing his wife. But of all the instances of papal 
tyranny and assumed power, none surpassed that exer- 
cised upon John king of England, who consented to 
receive his kingdom at the hands of Pandulph the 
pope's legate in the character of a feudatory of the Ro- 
man see. Gregory IX. excommunicated Frederick 
II. who followed in the footsteps of his illustrious 
grand-father, and Innocent IV. afterwards pronounced 
him unworthy of the empire. It was from this period 
the two factions of Guelphs and of Gibellines, the for- 
mer of whom espoused the cause of the popes, and the 
latter that of the emperors, involved the Italian states 
iu such fatal dissensions, though their origin may be 

traced much higher than this century. Martin IV. ex- 
21 



246 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

communicated the eastern emperor Michael Pal^eologu?, 
and deprived Peter of the throne of Arragon, in fa- 
vor of Philip the Bold, king of France. Amid the crowd 
of worldly minded pontiffs anxious solely for the tem- 
poral aggrandizement of themselves or the Roman see, 
the character of Celestine V. is a pleasing subject of 
contemplation. With reluctance he accepted the enor- 
mous power vested in the hands of a pope, and with 
pleasure resigned it. The abdicated office fell into the 
hands of Boniface VIII. the artful counsellor of Ce- 
lestine. 

Some of the monastic orders established in this coun- 
try, have now become extinct, while others exist even 
in the present day. The most noted of the latter, are the 
Brethren of the Holy Trinity, ceilled also Jfathurini, 
and the Servites, who were founded in honor of the 
Virgin Mary's widowhood. All these institutions proved 
of greater injury than benefit to the Roman see. From 
the universal depravity among the clerical orders, the 
different heretics took occasion to exult, and the bolder 
among them to conceive the design of shaking off entire- 
ly the jurisdiction of the Church. Alarmed at their dan- 
ger, and as a mean of averting it, the Roman pontiffs 
encouraged the various orders of mendicants, or those 
monks who renounced all worldly possessions. The re- 
sult however of the favor thus shewn to the mendicant 
orders, became the source of such an incredible aug- 
mentation of their numbers, as to render them a burden 
and nuisance to the Church. For this reason Gregory 
X. in a general council assembled at Lyons, anno 12/2, 
reduced this extravagant multitude of mendicants (to use 
his own expression) to th c four societies of Dominican 



CENTURY THIRTEENTH. 247 

Franciscans, Carmelites* and Augustinian Eremites. 
Scattered throughout all the countries of Europe, these 
orders were every where welcomed with profound ve- 
neration. But far beyond all the rest, the Dominican? 
and Franciscans extended their reputation and power. 
For three successive ages they ruled with an almost ab- 
solute sway both Church and state, and contended with 
an amazing zeal and success, for the majesty of the Ro- 
man pontiffs, against kings, bishops, and heretics. The 
founder of the former order was Dominica nobly born 
Spaniard ofCalaroga, of a fiery and impetuous temper, 
and distinguished for his animosity against heretics, and 
particularly the Albigenses, or those who passed under 
that name. Against these he prosecuted a vehement 
war throughout Italy, especially by the horrible and bar- 
barous terrors of the inquisition which owed its formation 
to this violent and sanguinary priest. f The Franciscans 
owe their name and their origin to Francis, the son of a 
merchant of Assisi, in Umbria. In the course of a disease 
brought on him by the abandoned and dissolute life he 
led, bis conscience smote him with his guilt, and as ex- 
tremes are natural to men of warm imaginations, he af- 
fected a species of pious madness in his life and man- 
ners. The new society which on principles of the most 
excessive austerity he instituted, was solemnly approved 
and confirmed by Honorius III. anno 1223. 



* Instituted in Palestine in the preceding century, this order was transplant- 
ed into Europe by Honorius III., anno 1220. 

f Butler a Roman Catholic, strongly denies this circumstance, though he 
q^hs that in 1223 two Dominicans were the first inquisitors. 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

The history of this period is filled with examples oi 
the overweaning arrogance and pride of the Domini 
cans. They endeavored to suppport their authority by 
a series of fictitious stories, of which a notable instance 
is given in their history of Simeon Stockius the general 
of their order.* Between them and the Franciscans 
arose vehement disputes about pre-eminence. The lat 
ter order were split into factions, and divided among 
themselves, in the first place concerning the true sense of 
the rule of their founder,! and afterwards on the subject 
of Abbot Joachim's everlasting gospel. This Joachim,, 
whether a real or fictitious personage, foretold the de- 
struction of the Romish church, and the promulgation 
of a more perfect gospel in the age of the Holy Ghost, 
by means of poor men commissioned by God. That 
part only of the Franciscans (and not even all of them) 
who from keeping St. Francis' rule with the utmost 
strictness, were called Spirituals, assented to his propo- 
sitions, applied part of them to themselves, and declared 
the fanatic to bo that angel spoken of in the Apocalypse 
sua having the everlasting gospel in his hand. Gerhard, 
one of these friars, undertook in the year 1250, to ex- 
plain that book in another, entitled an introduction to the 
everlasting gospel, in which he taught the most pestilent 
loctrines, and among others the abrogation of the gos 
pel of Christ. Nicolas III. by a famous constitution, set- 
led the proper interpretation of St. Francis' rule, by pro 



v To this man the virgin Mary was said and believed by many, to have ap 
I ?arc<\ and pronounced everlasting happiness to those who died with the carme 
:. oak on their shoulders. 
1 Namely, whether they might hold property of any kind- 



CENTURY TIirRTEENTH. 249 

hibiting the appropriation of any property as a fixed do- 
main, but permitted the use of necessary things, such as 
houses and books, the ownership of which resided in the 
Roman see. Even this exposition did not satisfy the aus- 
tere spirituals. One of their number, Pierre d'Olive, 
boldly defended his party, and wrote against the Romish 
church, which he called the whore of Babylon. The 
controversy for some time was kept under by the pru- 
dence of the heads of the order, untill Matthew, of Aqua 
Sparta, elected general in the year 1287, suffered the 
ancient discipline entirely to decline. From this laxity 
of manners thus brought about, the spirituals took occa- 
sion to rekindle the war anew. Capital punishments 
and the flame were at last resorted to for a cure, and not 
a few of the Franciscans suffered by the inquisition. 
Towards the close of the century arose in Italy, the 
sects of Fraticelli and BizocJii, or as they were called 
in Germany the Be guards, and who were bitterly and in- 
humanly persecuted by the inquisition. The Fratricelli 
have many things in common with the spirituals, de- 
manded a reformation of the church, assented to the no- 
tions of Joachim, and boasted of Celestine V. as their 
founder.* They had also like other Franciscans, a num« 
ber of Tertiarii or half monks, who, really laymen, kept 
to the rules of their order, and in Italy were named Bizo- 



^ If in the various opinions broached concerning this sect! may hazard an 
opinioo. these Fratricilli were real Franciscans, an Italian remcantof the Ce- 
lestine Hermits, to whom Celestine gave the power of separating from the 
rest, and whom Mosheim affirms to have resisted the efforts of the Francis- 
cans and Boniface VIII. to extirpate them. Fratricelli is in Italian what 
fratres minores another name for Franciscan is in Latin. 

21* 



50 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY 

chiyin Germany Beghards, and in France Beguines* From 
the^e Franciscan Beguines we must carefully distinguish 
certain Beguines of Germany, who were pious and godly 
females, who united themselves together, but reserved the 
right of returning, if they pleased, to the world. The 
example of these females was soon imitated in Flanders 
by the other sex, both bachelors and widowers, and who 
under the various names of Beghards, Bogards> Boris 
valets, and Weaving brethren, were tolerated rather than 
countenanced by the Roman pontiffs. 



CHAPTER III. 



DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH. 



The progress of truth and of genuine religion, was 
retarded among the Greeks, by their blind admiration 
of whatever was ancient, by the indolence of their bish- 
ops, and the state of the times. The ambitious jealousy 
of Rome, the jargon of the school divines, and the 
wretched disputes between the followers of St. Do- 
minic and St. Francis, produced among the Latins the 
same results. Innocent III. in the fourth council of 
Lateran, anno 1215, beside other innovations, placed 
among the duties prescribed by the divine laws, auricu- 
lar confession to the priest, and to confirm the doctrine 
of the divine'preseiice personally exhibited in the bread 
and wine, introduced the word transubstantiation. The 
Flagellantes or Whippers, sprung up in Italy, anno 
1260, and spread themselves over the various provinces 



CENTtnif THIRTBENTH. 251 

»t Europe. They ran up and down through the cities 
and fields, lacerating their naked bodies with whips, from 
the fond expectation of obtaining by this voluntary 
punishment, the favor of heaven for themselves and 
others. Public edicts, and the censures of popes, at 
length put a stop to this insanity which at first had 
met with general favor. Hugo de St. Caro, Stephen 
Langton, and Anthony of Padua, sought out for a hidden 
meaning in Scripture, after the mode of the mystics ; 
while others, among whom were Alexander Hales, and 
even Thomas Aquinas, did nothing more than consar- 
cinate the sentiments of the ancients. Hugo de St. Ca- 
ro, compiled the first concordance ever made, while the 
Dominicans gave a new and corrected edition of the 
Latin Bible. At the head of the systematic theologians, 
we must place Thomas Aquinas, from his learning and 
eloquence called the angel of the schools, or the angelic 
doctor. His sum of theology and morals, became the 
standard work of the age, and was followed as a text 
book by innumerable divines. Thomas Aquinas, and Al- 
bert the Great,gave a triumph to the Realists. Among 
these irrefragable, seraphic, and angelic doctors, as they 
were called, we discover a mournful deficiency of good 
taste and sound philosophy. Those who professed to 
be inflamed with the love of genuine devotion, and es- 
pecially the mystics, attacked the dialecticians, and even 
Thomas himself, as corrupters of true religion. To 
ward off these attacks, the latter craftily combined the 
sentimental wisdom of the mystics, with their own scho- 
lastic discipine. It is well known that Thomas, Robert 
Capito, Bonaventura, and others of a similar cast, acted 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

upon this conciliating plan, and even went so far as to 
compose comments on Dionysius. The scholastics 
employed their time chiefly in defining the nature of 
right and wrong in systematical collections of virtues and 
vices ; the former of these, they divided into moral 
and theological^ and the theological they made to consist 
in faith, hope, and charity. Among the Greek polemics 
of the age, Nicetas Acominatus attacked the various 
sects. Among the Latins, Raymond of Penafort, la- 
bored to confute the Saracens and Jews. There was 
no small contention, notwithstanding Innocent's edict, 
en the use of the words consul) stantiation and trqn- 
substantiation. The conferences held on the proces- 
sion of the Holy Spirit, and the use of unleavened 
bread in the eucharist, as well as the amicable terms 
proposed by John Ducas, the Grecian emperor, were 
ineffectual in reconciling ehe eastern and western 
church. Michael Palaeologus, (who had recovered Con- 
stantinople from the hands of the Latins,) dreading a 
new eruption from the West, sent an embassay to Ly- 
ons, anno 1274, where Gregory sat at the head of a gen- 
eral council, and conformed in his own and the name of his 
Church, to the terms of accommodation proposed by the 
pope. The peace was of short duration. Androni- 
cus II. the son of Michael, in a council at Constantino- 
ple, anno 1284, declared the treaty null, and Veccus> 
the patriarch, who acceded to its terms, was formally 
deposed and exiled. 



CENTURY THIKTEENTH. 258 

CHAPTER IV. 

HISTORY OF RITES. 

The number of rites still continued to multiply. The 
doctrine of a real presence in the eucharist once esta- 
blished, the elevation and worship of the host natural- 
ly followed.* For the consecrated elements, splendid re- 
ceptacles were provided, and lamps and other ornaments 
adorned the residence of that material which the prayer 
of the priest had converted into the son of God. The 
dream of a fanatic woman, and the zeal of her friend, 
induced Urban IV. to institute an annual festival called 
the feast of the holy sacrament or body of Christ. The 
cup was now removed, though no law was yet passed 
on the subject, from the use of the laity. Boniface VIIL 
at the close of the century, instituted a jubilee to be 
Jield at Rome, and during which pilgrims who would 
undertake the journey, should receive plenary remission 
of all their sins at the hands of the popes. 



CHAPTER ¥. 

OF HERESIES. 



The bishops of Rome made several attempts, by the 
ministry of Franciscan and Dominican missionaries, to 
bring under their jurisdiction the numerous churches of 
Jacobites and INestorians scattered through the East. 



* Bingham Or. Ec. xr. 5,4. proves that earlier than the 12th century. 
- here was no trace of this custom, 



254 ecclesiastical msfoRr. 

The number of those who now enrolled themselves in 
opposition to the papal corruptions, was no where great- 
er than in Narbonne, a province of France, where pro- 
tection was granted them by count Raymond VI. of 
Thoulouse. The bishops of this district were thought 
by Rome too remiss in revenging her cause upon these 
heretical deserters, and Innocent III. sent legates 
extraordinary to the southern provinces of France. 
Joined by Dominic the Spaniard, they received 
from their occupation, the title of i?iquisitors, and 
were authorized to convert the objects of their zeal 
by any method whatever, whether of reason, exhorta- 
tion, imprisonment, or the flames. The council held 
at Thoulouse, anno 1229, by the legate of the Pope 
decreed that in every city an inquisitorial college 
should be established, of one priest and three laymen. 
The duty of these tribunals was transferred, in the year 
1233, by pope Gregory IX, into the hands of the preach- 
ing friars, and the bishops were discharged from that 
troublesome office. Before this tremendous court thus 
placed in the hands of the dominical order, the crimes 
of magic, of sorcery, of Judaism, and witchcraft, were 
tried. The form of this trial was at last moulded accord- 
ing to that called the tribunal of penance, with which 
alone the Dominicans seem to have been acquainted. 
But edicts issued to support the power of the inquisition, 
were unavailable to silence the just indignation of an out- 
raged people. The inhuman members of this court were 
not unfrequently stoned out ofthe city, and Innocent III. 
perceiving that the labors ofthe first inquisitors did not 
meet his expectations; incited Philip Augustus, king oi 



OENTSRY THIRTEENTH. 255 

France, by the promise of large indulgences, to embark 
in a crusade against the heretics. This solicitation was 
followed by the warm efforts and preaching of the Ci- 
tercians, whose abbot, Amal, was the chief leader of 
this holy war. The commander-in-chief of the forces 
was Simon, earl of Montford, who received, as the re- 
ward of his zeal and services, the dominions of Ray- 
mond, the earl of Thoulouse. The fickle and incon- 
stant Raymond was succeeded by his son, the seventh of 
that name, who defended, for a time, with gallantry, 
his capital and rights ; but, surrounded by enemies, 
and hardly pressed by the forces of Louis IX. king of 
France, whose aid the pope had gained, he was at last 
compelled to submit to hard and rigorous terms of 
peace. Of those very Albigenses, as all heretics 
were now called, whom he so bravely defended, he be- 
came the bitter scourge, though perhaps against his will, 
and died in the year 1243, without leaving any heir to 
his earldom or misfortunes. The severity of the pon- 
tiffs against all who deserved or bore the name of here- 
tics, was not sufficient to prevent the rise of new and 
pernicious sects. Among the most noted and longest 
lived of these scions of heresy, we may reckon that of 
the brothers and sisters of the free spirit, who drew 
after them great numbers of either sex, by their appear- 
ance of uncommon devotion. From a passage of St. 
Paul, Rom. viii. 2, 14, they maintained the perfect ex- 
emption of the true sons of God from all law. In Ger- 
many they received the appellation of Beghards and 
BegattcB) which was generally applied to those who af- 
fected an extraordinary piety, and in France they were 



i56 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

indiscriminately called Beghines and Turlupins. The 
most fanatic part of this sect were guilty of shocking 
indecencies. Some of them, however., carried their 
principles much farther than others, and many impos- 
tors covered their outrages beneath the shadow of their 
name. Amalric, who had once been a teacher in the 
academy of Paris, is usually considered as belonging to 
this sect. If we credit the accounts which historians 
give of him, he maintained that God was all things, at 
once creator and created ; that any man could confer 
the divine nature on himself, and that all external wor- 
ship was vain. Deceived into a belief of this kind, and 
probably by perusing the famous volume of Joachim, 
Willi elmina a Bothemian female, persuaded herself 
and others, that the spirit of God had become incar- 
nate in her person. This delirious woman died quietly 
at Milan, anno 1281, though her bones were dug up 
about twenty years after, and were burnt. The injury 
done by the everlasting gospel seems to have been ex- 
tensive. From the prophecies contained in that work, 
there also sprung up the sect of the Apostles, who af- 
fected to imitate the followers of our Lord. This Joa- 
chim, whose prophecies concerning the church, we have 
so often mentioned, fell into the heresy of denying a 
common essence to the persons of the Trinity. The 
doctrine was condemned by Innocent, anno 1215, but 
without the sentence extending to the person or fame 
of the abbot himself. 



CENTURY FOURTEENTH. 

CHAPTER I. 

OUTWARD STATE OF THE CHURCH. 

Progress of the Church. 

\1. The Roman pontiffs, and those in particular who 
resided at Avignon, stirred up the kings of England 
and France to make new expeditions into the holy land* 
But various causes contributed to render abortive their 
zealous, or perhaps, selfish designs. The embassadors 
-ent from Rome, in a former age, to Sina, Tartary, and 
the adjacent countries, found their labors crowned with 
success, and established numerous churches among 
them. Clement V. constituted John de Monte Corvino 
archbishop of Cambalu, the modern Pekin, anno 1307. 
and also sent to his assistance seven other Franciscan 
bishops. Benedict XII. commissioned other embassa- 
dors to Sina and Tartary, anno 1336, in consequence of 
a solemn legation sent to him at Avignon, from the Khan 
of those countries. Uladislaus Jagello the only pagan 
prince who yet remained in Europe, received upon his 
marriage with the daughter of the king of Hungary, and 
its heiress, the rite of baptism, and in 1386 he com- 
pelled or persuaded the Lithuanians, his subjects, to 
embrace his new religion. The Teutonic Knights ex- 
tirpated, by violence and arms, all remains of the an- 
cient superstition existing in Prussia and Livonia, and 
22 



258 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

the Jews by similar methods were brought to profess u 
faith they never heartily entertained. 

Trials of the Church. 

§2. The Tartars and their renowned emperor Ti- 
mor Beg, or Tamerlane, had embraced the creed of 
.Mahomet. By violence and persecution, this fierce 
warrior compelled not a few to desert their faith 
in the redeemer, and many of those who refused, suffer- 
ed death by the extremest tortures, or were sold into 
bondage. After the year 1370,* we find no mention 
of the Latin Christians in those parts which the Chinese 
Tartars and Moguls inhabit. The last emperor of the 
race of Genghizkan being driven from the throne was 
succeeded by the Mini family, who steadily refused to 
foreigners permission to enter their dominions. 



CHAPTER II. 

STATE OF LEARNING AND TEACHERS. 

Of Learning. 

§1. Pressed as they were by external calamities, and 
domestic misfortunes, the Greeks yet retained some 
portion of their veteran love of science and the arts. 
In all the Latin provinces, schemes were carried into 
execution for promoting the progress of letters, and 
extending the bounds of knowledge. The study of lan- 
guages sensibly, silently, but successfully revived. The 

* Some traces of the Nestorlans are foun-.l as low a? the eighteenth century. 



CENTURY FOURTEENTH. 259 

Greek language received, by the efforts of Manuel 
Chrysoloras,a Greek by birth, an extensive circulation. 
The genius of Italy shone forth in the works of Pe- 
trarch and Dante. Of the arts which were classed un- 
der the title of Faculties, there were several deserving 
ornaments, but philosophy was still loaded with an un- 
meaning jargon of words, and the nominalists and re- 
alists yet continued their dissensions. Astrology began 
now to be pursued as an interesting and important branch 
of science, and not a few philosophers appear to have 
been seized with a species of madness for predicting 
future events from the appearance of the stars. There 
is still extant a treatise on the sphere of Sacrobustus, 
written bj^ Asculam, who was burnt for his too great 
skill in medicine and mechanics. Raymund Lully, a 
Franciscan, instituted a new species of philosophy, a 
compound of astrological knowledge with religious en- 
thusiasm. In his zeal to convert the Moslem, he passed 
over to Africa and was slain, universally lamented, ex- 
cept by the Dominicans. 

Of the Clerical Order. 

<§>2. The vices of the clergy, so often the theme of 
painful commemoration, still formed the subject of se- 
cret sorrow to the wise and the good. Many wise and 
good men of this age went so far as openly to express 
their wish that the church might undergo a reformation 
in its head and all its members. In consequence of a 
haughty letter from Boniface VIII., Philip the Fair of 
France, in an assembly of his peers, anno 1308, accu- 
sed. through the pen of William de Nogaret, the Ro- 



ECCLESIASTCAL HISTORY. 

man'pontiff, of heresies, and other vices, and demanded 
a general council, in which Boniface should be degra- 
ded. Excommunicated with all his adherents, Philip 
took the bold measure of exciting commotions by his 
emissaries, against the Pope. In the place of Benedict 
XI. the successor of Boniface, the French monarch 
caused one of his own bishops under the title of Clement 
V. to be placed in the papal chair. This pontiff trans- 
ferred, at the desire of his former sovereign, the seat of 
ecclesiastical power from Rome to Avignon, where it 
continued to remain for the space of seventy years. 
The Italians are wont to distinguish this period as the 
Babylonish exile, and overwhelm with reproaches the 
Gallican pontiffs. The disturbances in Italy naturally 
tended to impede the course of those supplies which the 
pontiffs derived from that country, and they were there- 
fore compelled to devise new means of acquiring wealth. 
Hence indulgences began to be vended in greater num- 
bers, and licenses of all sorts were sold at an enormous 
price. John XXII. is said to have imposed, though he 
probably only enlarged the tribute of Annates or first 
fruits, and was the author of that revenue, which, under 
the name of reserves, provisions, and expectatives, occa- 
sioned such bitter complaints, throughout all the parts 
of Europe. 

This pontiff so conspicuous for his obsequious ac- 
quiesence in the will of Philip the Fair, was succeeded 
in the year 1316, after many and bitter altercations be- 
tween the French and Italians, by John XXII. a French- 
man by birth. Of the successors of John in the papal 
authority, Benedict XII. endeavored to restore its an- 



CENTURY FOURTEENTH. 261 

cient discipline to the church, Clement VI. imitated 
the example of John, Urban VI. with the single blem- 
ish of showing to his relatives an undue partiality was 
an honor to the church, and Gregory XI. has rendered 
his name dear to the Italians, by restoring the papal resi- 
dence from Avignon to Rome. Upon the death of Gre- 
gory XI. there arose in the church, anno 1378, that 
deplorable schism of the West, which was drawn out 
to the period of fifty successive years, and distracted 
all Europe. The papal chair was claimed by two or 
three competitors. The French electing one, and the 
Italians another. The French pontiff usually resided 
at Avignon, and he of Italy at Rome,* while each con- 
tinued to thunder anathemas at the other's head. 

The new monastic orders of this century were the 
female votaries of St. Bridget of Sweden, and St Ca- 
tharine of Sens, the Eremites of St. Jerome, and the 
Jesuates so called, from the frequent occurrence of the 
name of Jesus in their mouths. The military order of 
Knights Templars was in this century suppressed, 
Philip of France either dreading their power or covet- 
ing their riches, conspired with Clement V. and accus- 
ing them of many and grievous offences against both 
church and state, threw them every where into prison, 
and inflicted on them the severest tortures. Clement 
V. in conjunction with Philip of France, in a general 
council assembled at Vienna, anno 1311, caused them 
to be condemned for the crimes laid to their charge ; 



* The French Church at one time renounced all allegiance to either of the 
-ponuift. 

99* 



262 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

the order was abolished, and their property confiscated. 
An example of the ridiculous subjects of dispute among 
the monks, may be found in the controversy carried on 
by the Franciscans, concerning habits and hoods, 
and the low state of piety and religion among them 
may be gathered from a book which appeared among 
the same order on St. Francis' conformities with Jesus 
Christ. 



CHAPTER III. 

DOCTRINE OP THE CHURCH. 

Its Condition and Writers. 

§1. The courage, the numbers, and the zeal of the 
Waldenses, in the cause of truth, increased in propor- 
tion to the general corruption of those who were around 
them. But among those who opposed the errors of the 
time, and particularly those of the mendicant orders, none 
has acquired a greater celebrity than John WicklirT, an 
English doctor, and professor of divinity in Oxford. On 
a mission with others, anno 1373, to Gregory XI. then 
residing at Avignon, he witnessed and was disgusted 
with the gross improprieties of the Romish court and 
clergy. To assist his countrymen in obtaining a know- 
ledge of the truth, he translated the scriptures from the 
Vulgate into English, and supported by such an ally, as 
well as by king Edward III. and many of the nobles y 
he resolutely attacked the pontifical power, and other 
ecclesiastical abuses, especially the doctrine of the 



CENTURY FOURTEENTH. 

>Iiip of images, indulgences, the celibacy of the 
clergy, and transubstantiition, in his sermons and wri- 
tings. Escaping by the interest of the duke of Lan- 
caster, from the sentence of a council assembled in 
London,- upon his case, anno 1379, and likewise from 
the effects of a subsequent condemnation of 23 of his 
opinions, he ended his days in peace, at the parish of 
Lutterworth. After him, the Lollards prosecuted his 
opinions, and his designs of a reformation, with zeal and 
some success.* This people were distinguished on the 
continent, by the name of Cellite brethren and sisters, 
either from their mode of life, or their habit of visiting the 
dying in their cells. 

In exigetical theology Nicolas Lyranus holds a con- 
spicuous place. He undertook the explanation of the 
Old and New Testament, and from his knowledge of the 
Hebrew he expounded them with considerable ability. 
All the other divines either culled from ancient writers, 
or delighting in allegory, sought out in every passage a 
mysterious sense. The scholastic method of Thomas 
was still in high repute, as is evidenced from the writings 
of Cydonius among the Greeks, John Scotus, Duran- 
dus, William Occam, and others among the Latins. 
Fresh materials for the war between the scholastics and 
mystics, the realists and nominalists, were supplied in 



* The term Lollard from lullen (to sing with a loud voice) like that of Be- 
gbard became attached to all who were noted for their peculiar air of piety 
and devotion. It was sometimes bestowed upon heretics in the same accepts 
f the word. See Mos. cent xiv. c. ii. sec. xxxvi, 



264 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

this century by Duns Scotus an English Franciscan.* 
This subtle logician attacked several opinions of Thomas 
Aquinas as extremely erroneous, and was supported by his 
order long jealousof the glory derived to the Dominicans, 
from the renowned Aquinas. Hence sprung the famous 
sects of Tkomists and Scotists, which to this day dispute 
the palm of excellence in the Latin schools. The hatred 
was still as vehement between the mystics and scholastics 
as it had formerly been. Among the mystics were many 
who endeavored to wean mankind from an attachment 
to the externals of religion and train them to the prac- 
tice of genuine virtue. The moral duties now began to 
be explained by examples, drawn from the natures, pro- 
perties, and actions of the brute creation. The most re- 
markable works of this sort are Nieders' formicarius, a 
treatise on beesby Brabantius, and a tract of Thomas Wal- 
ley's on the nature of brute animals with a moral appli- 
cation. In polemic divinity the name of Thomas Brad- 
wardine is worthy of note. This pious and amiable 
archbishop of Canterbury ably and ingeniously defended 
the truth of Christianity in his work concerning Provi- 
dence. Pachetas Salvaticus, and Nicolas Lyra, wrote 
against the Jews, but they are both inferior to Theo- 
phanes a Greek. 

Of Controversies. 

^2. Affrighted by the arms and encroaching con- 
quests of the Turks, the Greeks often professed them- 

* T tie Dominicans and Franciscans were both of the philosophic school r 
5ut still disputed on many points. 



CENTURY FOURTEENTH. ( 2Gj 

selves willing to submit to the canons of the Latin 
church. To effect a reconciliation, Andronicus the 
younger, sent Barlaam to the West, anno 1339, and 
thirty years after, the emperor John Palaeologus went 
himself into Italy for the same purpose, and published 
a confession of faith, which met the approbation of the 
Roman pontiff. But these pacific measures proved 
finally abortive. No controversy is more celebrated 
among the Latins, than that which was carried on be- 
tween the different societies of Franciscans, concerning 
the rule of their founders, and the nature of true and 
perfect poverty. One party denied that our Saviour or 
his apostles had any real property in the things which 
they used. Pope John XXII. who was probably 
offended at the open assistance given by these spiritu- 
als to Lewis of Bavaria, pronounced this tenet concern- 
ing the expropriation of Christ a damnable doctrine. 
This sentence did not break either the spirit or the num- 
bers of the more rigid Franciscans. In Hubert deCasa- 
lis, William Occam, and others, especially the emperor 
Lewis, they found zealous defenders, and the order of 
Franciscans became divided into two different bodies. 



CHAPTER IV. 



HISTORY OF RITES. 



Clement VI., at the request of the people, enacted a 
law to alter the period of holding the Jubilee. Boniface 
VIII. had hitherto fixed its celebration at the opening 
of every hundredth year, but Clement now ordered that 



20G ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

a jubilee should be held in Rome at the distance of eve- 
ry fifty years. Innocent V. commanded that festivals 
should be kept sacred to the memory of the lance which 
pierced our Lord, to the noils which transfixed him. 
and the crown of thorns which encircled his head at his 
death. Benedict XII. appointed a festival in honor of the 
wounds which were said by the Franciscans to have been 
transferred by the Saviour from himself to the body of 
their founder, while John XXII. beside the sanction 
which he gave to many other superstitions, ordered 
Christians to add to the prayers already used, the words 
which the angel Gabriel addressed to the virgin Mary. 



CHAPTER V. 



OF HERESIES. 



Ample food for contention was furnished to the Greeks 
by the sect of the Hesychasts, or Quietists according to 
their Latin appellation.* These names were bestowed 
upon certain Grecian monks who were wont to sit every 
day during a certain space of time in a solitary corner, with 
their eyes fixed upon the middle region of the belly or navel, 
and boasted that in this state they received a divine commu- 
nication. Gregory Palamas defended their cause against 
their enemy Barlaam, and maintained that the light which 
the disciples of Christ saw on Mount Tabor. was a proof 
that some portion of that light which encompassed the Al- 



* These fanatic monks were also called Umbitfcam, 



CENTURY FOURTEENTH. 267 

mighty might be seen. This produced the inquiry, whether 
that light which the disciples were permitted to behold on 
Mount Tabor, was a part of the divine nature, or only a 
creation of God. The former position was defended by 
Palamas and rejected by Barlaam. The subject was 
at last resolved into the intricate question whether the 
operation of God was identified with his essence. Useless 
as was this controversy, it split Greece into two factions. 
The emperor Andronicus in a council at Constantinople, 
anno 1331, caused Barlaam to be condemned with all his 
adherents. At length after several councils, in which 
the Barlaamites were defeated, the dispute was put to 
rest by a natural death. 

Throughout the western world, the inquisition pursued 
with unrelenting severity, the Waldenses, Cathari, and 
Apostolics, and numberless instances are yet remaining on 
record, of those who were burnt or barbarously destroyed. 
But none suffered so much from this inhuman persecution 
astheBeghards and Beguines. Margaret Poretta a distin- 
guished female Beguine was publicly burnt at Paris, anno 
1310. She had penned an elaborate treatise, to demon- 
strate that the soul when absorbed in the love of God, 
might freely gratify its natural appetites without con- 
tracting any guilt. Indignant at such an instance of per- 
nicious fanaticism, the pontiffs severely restrained by their 
own and the decrees of councils, those brethren and sis- 
ters of the free spirit who had become tainted by these 
outrageous opinions. The brethren and sisters changed 
indeed their residence, but by no means their opinions. 
The chief defenders of this sect were Walter a Dutch- 
man, and Avcard a Saxon. The constitution drawn up 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

in the council of Vienna! against the Beguines, at least 
such as were corrupted by the errors of the brethren of 
the free spirit, excited a fierce and destructive war against 
them.* The greater part of Europe, and in particular 
France and Germany, were miserably afflicted by the 
unhappy revival of tljc almost forgotten sect of the 
Flagellants. Whipping they esteemed the highest kind 
of devotion, and claimed for it an equal virtue with bap- 
tism and the Lord's Supper. Anathemas were hurled 
against them and they were burnt by the inquisition ; 
but it was still found difficult to suppress them or their 
opinions. To this melancholy sect of fanatics were 
opposed the merry one of the Dancers who arose at 
Aix-la-Chapelle, anno 1373, and diffused themselves 
through Belgium. In their fits of distraction they pre- 
tended to be favored with wonderful visions. A super- 
stitious age attributed their phrenzy to demoniacal 
possession, and accordingly applied the remedies of exor- 
cism and fumigation. Of the order of Knights Tem- 
plars we have already made mention. It was suppressed 
by Clement V. at the instigation of Philip the Fair, and 
their property was confiscated, anno 1311, to the 
Knights of Malta and others, and principally we may pre- 
sume, to the emperor and pope. 



* John xxii. and some other popes did indeed by a new constitution defend 
the property and societies of the innocent Beguines from violence and insult. 
But neither this mildness nor even their embracing the third rule of St. Francis 
and that of the Augustines, could hinder the loss of their reputation and sub- 
stance. 



CENTURY FIFTEENTH. 

CHAPTER I. 

OUTWARD STATE OF THE CHURCH. 

Progress of the Church. 

§i. Ferdinand the Catholic, by the conquest of Gre-- 
nada, entirely overturned the dominion of the Saracens 
in Spain. To the Moors who remained, their con- 
queror had promised, before the city of Grenada was 
taken, security of property and freedom of religion 
But the hope of their conversion soon proved to be 
vain. A trial of seven years shewed how strong was 
their attachment to their voluptuous prophet, and by 
advice of Ximenes, the archbishop of Toledo, recourse 
was had to harsher methods, though with little bet- 
ter success. Ferdinand also issued a decree of banish- 
ment against the Jews, many of whom, in consequence^ 
became Christians by profession, though Israelites in 
heart. The light of the gospel was, in the opening of 
this century, carried to the tribes of Samogetae, who 
inhabited Lithuania, and before it had closed, the enter- 
prising Portuguese, (who had penetrated by navigation 
as far as Ethiopia and the Indies,) converted the peo- 
ple of Congo to the faith of the gospel, anno 1491. 
Christopher Columbus, in the following year, discovered 
the continent of America ; and Pope Alexander VI. 
sent large numbers of Franciscans as well as Dominicans 
23 



270 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

to effect the conversion of its barbarous people. The 
success of this mission is abundantly known. 

Trials of the Church. 

§2. Tn the regions of the East, Christianity declined 
before the barbarous efforts of the Turks and Tartars 
to suppress it. The Nestorians alone still retained a slip- 
pery footing in China and Cathay. But a grievous 
calamity overtook the cause of the Christians in this 
age, from whose baleful effects it has not yet been 
recovered. Headed by Mahomet II. a formidable war- 
rior and accomplished prince, the Turks bore down 
upon Greece, and partly by capitulation and partly by 
sack, the city of Constantinople fell before their victori- 
ous army. To those of its inhabitants who surrender- 
ed upon terms, the enjoyment of their religion was at 
first freely permitted — but its vigor was gone. Pope 
Pius II. wrote an urgent 1 etter to Mahomet, exhorting 
him to change the faith of the crescent for that of the 
cross ; but destitute alike of piety and prudence, it 
produced no effect. 



CHAPTER II. 

STATE OF LEARNING AND TEACHERS. 

Of Learning. 

§1. All the liberal arts were now being restored to 
their pristine glory among the Latins. The popes, and 
especially Nicholas V. vied with kings and princes in 



f!RN?TT7RV PTPTPTOTtt. 27 1 

bestowing on them the amplest and warmest encourage- 
ment. Among these eminent promoters of literature 
and the arts, the Neapolitan princes, and the house of 
Medici stood foremost ; but the most important ally of 
science, was obtained in this century, by the happy in- 
vention which has rendered it improbable that the world 
should ever sink into the deplorable darkness and igno- 
rance of the middle ages. The art of printing was in- 
vented anno 1440, by Lawrence Coster, of Haerlem, 
and the rapid circulation of the most valuable produc- 
tions of the Greek and Latin writers, was the immediate 
consequence.*" Italy became, as well from her situa- 
tion as the encouragement she gave to the learned refu- 
gees from the downfal of Constantinople, the seat of 
learning and arts. The names of Reuchlin and Trithe- 
mius, are still dear to the Germans, as restorers of 
learning among them, and Cyriacus of Ancona, in- 
troduced into Europe the antiquarian spirit. The 
blind admiration of Aristotle's philosophy, which had 
hitherto maintained itself without a rival, was now 
greatly diminished by the influence which Pletho and 
other Grecian sages, disciples of Plato, acquired in 
the West. Cosmo de Medici founded at Florence a pla- 
tonic academy ; and Ficinus, his physician's son, exe- 
cuted, with success, at his desire, translations of Plato^ 
Plotinus, and other eminent Greek authors. 



* Coster invented wooden types by carving some letters on the bough of 
a beach tree, and pressing them on paper for the use of his children. Gen= 
geish and Guttemberg carved metallic types at Mentz,- and Shoeffer perfect* 
ad the art at Strasbourg by casting his types in an iron mould or matrix. 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

Of the Clerical Order. 

§2. It is melancholy to listen to the accounts 
which are given of the deplorable condition, in this 
century, of the whole clerical body. The western 
world was divided into two separate factions, and go- 
verned by two contending pontiffs, one of whom, popo 
Boniface IX. resided at Rome, and the other, Bene- 
dict XIII. remained at Avignon. Upon the death of 
the former, Innocent VII. was elected in his place, and 
Innocent was succeeded, anno 1406, by Gregory XII. 
To terminate the dissension, a council was summoned 
at Pisa, anno 1409. Both Gregory XII. and Benedict 
XIII. were declared guilty of heresy, and Alexander 
V. was chosen in their stead. The church was thus 
torn by three contending parties, each claiming for its 
head supreme dominion over the whole. On the death 
of Alexander, the unprincipled John XXI [I. who was 
elected in his place, consented, at the desire of the em- 
peror Sigismund, to summon the ecumenical council of 
Constance, anno 1414, in continuation of that which 
had been holden at Pisa. At this celebrated and nobly 
attended assembly a general and thorough reform of the 
church* and a settlement of the dissensions which ex- 
isted between the pontiffs, were proposed and canvassed. 
The three contending claimants, Gregory, Benedict 
XVII. and John were solemnly deposed, and Martin V. 



* The following decree passed in the third session of the council. " Istiu! 
sacrum concilium non debet dissolui— quousque ecclesia sit reformata in fide 
et moribus, in capite et membris." 



CENTURY FIFTEENTH. 27o 

declared the lawful possessor of the chair of St. Peter. 
To give force to this decree, a resolution was passed in 
the fourth and fifth sessions, that the Roman pontiff was 
inferior to an ecumenical council, and bound to yield 
obedience to its authority and laws. This council also 
undertook to decide the case of heretics, among whom, 
were summoned before them, the celebrated John Huss 
and Jerome of Prague. The former was professor of 
theology at Prague, and was esteemed in that city for his 
piety, learning, and eloquence.* To reply to the of- 
fences laid to his charge, and resting on the safe conduct 
which the emperor Sigismund granted him, to and from 
the city of Constance, Huss answered the summons to 
appear before the council. He there professed himself 
a true servant of the Catholic church ; but he refused 
to plead guilty in proclaiming the corruption of the 
court of Rome, and was publicly burnt at Constance en 
the 7th of July, anno 1415. 

A similar fate and with similar fortitude was endured 
the following year, by his friend and associate Jerome of 



* By openly and warmly inveighing against the vices of the clergy, and 
opposing the interests of Gregory XII , he brought down upon himself the 
indignation of his archbishop. By espousing, as a philosopher, the cause of the 
realists, he incurred the displeasure of the nominalists, whose numbers were 
very great in the city of Prague, and his vehement resistance to the unjust 
claims of the Germans for treble the interest of the Bohemian nation, in their 
own university, was highly prejudicial to himself and indeed to the welfare of 
the institution. Incensed at the decision gained against them by Huss, a large 
body of the former nation withdrew under Hoffman, the ruler of the universi- 
ty, and established, with the encouragement of Frederick the Wise, the famous 
academy of Leipsic. On the retreat of the Germans, the language of Huss 
became bolder than before, and a sentence of excommunication was issued, 
against him by John XXIII. 

23* 



274 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 



Prague. On the 14th of June, the communion in both 
kinds was formally interdicted, and the cup alone allowed 
to be received by the laity. At length, the important 
point to which all Europe was turning its eyes with anx- 
iety, the reformation of the Church in its head and 
its members, was brought before the council. But it was 
thought necessary in the first place to elect a new 
pontiff, and the newly elected pontiff Martin V. show- 
ed no wish to effect the purpose for which the coun- 
cil had convened.* The hopes of the Christian world 
were only met by the promise of a future council to be 
called in the course of five years. Five years and more 
elapsed before this promise was fulfilled. At last a coun- 
cil was called at Basil, anno 1431. The first measure 
taken was to confirm the decree of Constance, subjecting 
the popes to the authority of general councils. Euge- 
nius IV. the successor of Martin, twice attempted to dis- 
solve an assembly so inimical to his wishes. The at- 
tempt proved in vain, and the council proceeded to con- 
sider of a union between the Greek and Latin church, and 
a general reformation. The burdensome tribute of an- 
nates, provisions, and reservations, were abolished. To 
put a check upon such measures, the pope assembled in 
opposition a council at Ferara, anno 1438, which was 
afterwards removed to Florence. The fathers of Basil 
in their turn set up in opposition to Eugenius a new pope 



* Gregory XII. sent in his resignation to the council of Constance. Benedict 
XIII. died before its closej and his successor who assumed the title of Clement 
VIII. yielded his claims on the papacy to Martin V. It is to be noted that 
events are here mentioned as occurring at Basil, though the council removed 
successively from Pavia to Vienna, and thence to Basil. 



CENTURY FIFTEENTH. 275 

iu the person of Amadeus, duke of Savoy, who assumed 
the appellation of Felix V. This new and deplorable 
schism, continued to the year 1447, amidst infinite dis- 
tractions. In that year died Eugenius, and Felix volun- 
tarily resigned the papal power into the hands of Nicho- 
las V. who was finally acknowledged by both the con- 
tending parties. Tranquillity was at last restored, though 
with no great advantage to genuine religion, except in 
respect of the decress of both councils being receiv- 
ed as authentic and obligatory on the Christian world.* 
The amiable Nicholas was a patron of learning, as was 
also iEneas Sylvius,! who under the name of Pius IT. 
succeeded him after Calixtus III. Of the succeeding 
pontiffs, Paul H., Sixtus IV., and Innocent VII., there is 
nothing w r orthy to be told. But if surpassing cruelty, 
the most implacable malice, and the blackest dispositions, 
ought to perpetuate a name, Alexander VI. whose sur- 
name was Borgia, will pass to posterity in the boldest 
relief. This odious tyrant was cut off in the year 1503, 
by the poison which himself and son, Caesar Borgia, had 
prepared for some cardinals, whose piety had rendered 
them objects of hatred. Of the religious fraternities 
founded in this century, none deserve our notice so much 



* Little was done at Basil toward the church's reformation, and though a 
partial reconciliation was effected at the council of Ferara with the Greeks, by 
the influence of the learned Bessarion, it at last came to nothing. The Greeks 
refused to acknowledge the doctrine of purgatory, the procession of the Holy 
Spirit from the son, the use of unleavened bread, and the supremacy of 
the Pope ; and the fall of Constantinople, broke the design of an union as it did 
the heart of the good Nicholas. 

| It was this pope who reprobating opinions he once held, declared that 
3s .Eneas, he was a damnable heretic, as Pius II. an orthodox pontiff, 



^7(3 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

as the brethren and clerks of the common life> who have 
the glory of counting Erasmus of Roterdam in their 
number. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE DOCTRINE OP THE CHURCH. 

It is a melancholy truth that little was now left in the 
public worship of the Latin church, which could gratify 
the wishes of pious men. The state of church disci- 
pline among the Greeks was not much better. The 
whole worship of God was made to consist in a number 
of insipid ceremonies ; and while it must be allowed that 
the fundamentals of Christianity were preserved in the 
ritual, the sermons of the Latin divines were filled with 
extravagant fictions. The disciples of WicklirTin Eng- 
land and Scotland, continued to inveigh against the 
laws of the pontiffs and the licentious manners of the 
clergy. The Waldenses from their vallies and the re- 
mote fastnesses to which persecution had driven them, 
ceased not to call aloud for succor to the expiring cause 
of religion and virtue. In Italy itself, under the power 
of the pontiff, some were bold enough, and among them 
the famous Jerome Savanarola, to compare Rome papal 
to Babylon. The disaffection in Bohemia, on the sub- 
ject of religion, broke out after the deaths of Huss and 
Jerome of Prague, into an open and destructive war. 
The persecuted friends of Huss, retreated to the steep 
and almost inaccessible mountain of Tabor, and there 
celebrated the^ euchari^t agreeably to its first in$ti- 



CENTURY FIFTEENTH. 277 

tution in both kinds. Proceeding a step further, their 
leaders Nicholas de Hustinet and John Ziska a nobleman, 
resolved on revenging the deaths of Huss and Jerome, 
and multitudes daily flocked to join their standard ; 
and when the emperor Sigismund declared his resolution 
of putting in force, the edicts of the council of Con- 
stance against them, the whole of Bohemia rose boldly 
in arms, and with the blind but heroic Ziska at their 
head carried on the war with success. On the death of 
this renowned leader, Procopius Rasa a man of undaunt- 
ed courage was chosen to supply his place. But the great 
body of the Hussites were soon split into various fac- 
tions, the two largest of which were distinguished by the 
appellation of Calixtines and Taborites. The former 
were more moderate in sentiment than the other, de* 
manded only the use of the cup, and sought not to extir- 
pate but only to reform, the existing mode of religion. 
The Taborites on the other hand, would be contented 
with nothing less than an entire new modelling of the 
church, and rejected a great part of the Romish religion 
which was sound. Among other tenets of their doctors, 
particularly of Martin Loquis, was the chimerical notion 
that Christ would descend in person to root out 
heresy and purge the church. The milder arts of 
^Enaes Sylvius, who was sent on a mission for the 
purpose, succeeded with the Calixtines, to whom he 
granted the use of the cup, and they were reconciled to 
the see of Rome. The Taborites though unreclaim- 
ed, were finally led to review their tenets and discipline, 
so as to reject from them the odious features by which 
they had hitherto been deformed. These are those Bohe- 



278 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORf. 

mians, Picards or Beghards, who afterwards joined the 
communion of Luther. 

At the head of all the writers who in a mystical man- 
ner interpreted the scriptures, we must place Alphonso 
Tostatus. The notes of Laurentius Valla on the New Tes- 
tament are well deserving of regard ; but nothing con- 
tributed so much to the understanding of the sacred 
volume, as the translations made of them into almost all 
the tongues of Europe. The science of dialectics expe- 
rienced the enmity of the learned Greeks, whom the fall 
of Constantinople had driven into Europe. The mystics 
gathered strength, and saw their friends and abettors daily 
increase. Among them indeed were men who in a good 
degree, were free from the faults which had hitherto 
characterized the tribe. Such were Thomas-a-Kempis, 
the real or supposed author of the celebrated book on the 
imitation of Christ ; Lawrence, Justinian, Savanarola, 
and others.*" 

The disputes which had hitherto divided the Greek 
and Latin churches, had well nigh been brought to a final 
adjustment, a little before the sack and fall of Constanti- 
nople. Anxious to procure the assistance of the Latins, 
the Greek emperor John Palaeologus, came in person to 
the council of Florence, and but for the determined oppo- 
sition of Mark the bishop of Ephesus, a peace though un- 
favorable to the interests of the Greeks, had undoubtedly 
been concluded. Scarcely however had the Greeks re~ 
turned to their country than the controversy was renewed, 



* The works of Harphiip, Gerson, Cusanus, and some other-, must be rea£ 
With greater vautioa. 



CENTUBY FIFTEENTH. 279 

and the treachery of the Latins loudly complained of in 
-various publications. 

The history of rites and ceremonies in this age, is 
hardly deserving a separate chapter. To the festivals 
already kept in the Latin church, (and the Greek was 
overloaded) was now added special days to commemorate 
throughout the western world, the virgin's visitation, her 
immaculate conception, and our Lord's transfiguration, 
The inundation of indulgences was greater than ever, 



CHAPTER IV, 

OF HERESIES. 



In the course of this century, the Manicheans or 
Paulicians again ventured to raise their head. The 
Waldenses collected in the lower parts of Germany a 
considerable number of followers, many of whom were 
condemned to the flames by inquisitorial cruelty. The 
brethren and sisters of the free spirit, established them- 
selves secretly in various provinces. These miserable 
fanatics, who are also called Adamites and Picards^ 
were cruelly persecuted, and by none more than Ziska. 
whose punishments they sustaine d with astonishing for- 
titude. A new sect was established by a certain priest 
of unknown origin, who descended from the Alps, and 
appeared at the head of a numerous band arrayed in white 
garments. These Albati, as they were called from the 
dress which they wore, exhorted the people to appease 
the wrath of God by chastising their bodies ; and their 
1 eader, in consequence as he said, of some divine reve- 



280 ECCLE3TASTICAL HISTORY- 

Jations, 'proclaimed a crusade against the Turks, lie- 
was at last burnt alive by Boniface IT. In Belgium ; 
there also appeared, under iEgidius Cantor and William 
of Hildenissen, a sect of fanatics called themen of under- 
standing. Like many others, they pretended to celes- 
tial visions, promised a new revelation, and taught that 
the resurrection, namely that of the body, was already 
accomplished in Christ. The lower parts of Saxony 
were still disturbed by the Flagellants, who surpassed 
(if it were possible) their predecessors of the same 
name, in acts of folly and madness. They rejected all 
external worship, and placed their hopes of salvation 
in faith and flagellation. Their leader, Conrad Schmidt, 
and Nicholas Schaden, with many of their followers, 
were committed by the Inquisitionto the flames. 



BOOK IV. 



FROM THE BEGINNING 



OF THE 



REFORMATION, 



TO THE 



PRESENT TIMES. 



PREFACE. 



The face of the Christian world became, in the six- 
teenth century, so materially changed, that the order of 
historic narrative must also undergo a correspondent 
alteration. This part, therefore, of ecclesiastical his- 
tory, will properly divide itself into two heads, the Uni- 
versal and Particular history of the Church. In the 
former, is embraced the narrative of all those events 
which relate to the advancement or changes of Chris- 
tianity, without regard to the particular divisions of the 
Church, instrumental in promoting its interests. In the 
latter, is included whatever of interest occurred to the 
more ancient divisions of the Church, as also the more 
modern. Special attention shall be given, to exhibit a 
faithful though succinct account of that great event, so 
generally known in the Church under the character of 
the Reformation. 



CENTURY SIXTEENTH. 

SECTION FIRST. 

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 

State of the Church before the Reformation, 

§1. At the opening of this century the power of the 
Roman see appeared at its height, and with very few ex- 
ceptions there was a deceitful calm. But of all the 
learned men, of whom Europe might now boast, none 
had the courage in lashing as did Erasmus, the vices and 
superstitions of the times, to strike their blow at the 
root ; and the papal statutes and jurisdiction still con- 
tinued to maintain their ground under the title of canon 
law. This calm afforded the pontiffs a full leisure for 
their vices and ample scope for their ambitious views. 
Alexander VI. perished, anno 1503, as we have seen, by 
the poison he had mixed for others. Julius II. who had 
succeeded Alexander VI. in the papal chair, was involved 
during his whole life, in perpetual wars, with the Vene- 
tians, the people of Ferara, and Lewis XII. king of 
France.* Several cardinals, encouraged by the protec- 



* In the midst of these evils there was howeverthe dawn of a better hope, 
The French monarch it is said proceeded so far in expressing his indignation 
at the conduct of the Pope, as to issue coins ivith this inscription : Perdam Ba- 
hylonis Nomen, 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTOi. 

tion of Lewis, assembled a council at Pisa, anno l5ii; 
with the intention of setting bounds to the arrogance of 
Julius. But the pope was undismayed, and in the Late 
ran council called the following year, rescinded all th€ 
acts of the council of Pisa. Leo X. of the family ol 
Medici, succeeded Julius II. anno 1513. Ambitious, 
politic, and luxurious, Leo was beyond all his predeces- 
sors, a patron of literature and the arts. In the second 
year of his pontificate, he persuaded the French moii 
arch Francis I. to abolish the Pragmatic sanction and 
to substitute in its stead another law, which granted tb 
annates or first fruits, to the popes, and was called the 
Concordats Indulgences were a never failing resource 
to the Roman pontiffs in replenishing their exhausted 
coffers. The pernicious effects of this species of traffic 
became daily more discernible, nor could all the author- 
ity of the popes prevent the murmurs which began to 
be uttered against them. Many ventured to assert the 
superiority of a general council, and loudly to demand 
that one should be summoned for the purpose of effecting 
a reform in the church. Whoever has perused the 
works of Erasmus and Rabelais, w T ill have sufficient!} 
become acquainted with the odious characteristics 
of the monkish order. The progress of knowledge 
was not a little retarded by the bitter disputes which 
the Scotists, and Thomists, the Realists, and Nomi- 
nalists, carried on among themselves. The k\v com 
mentators who attempted to expound the sacred vo- 
lume, miserably failed of their objects, and when Luther 
arose, there was scarcely one to be found in the schools, 
who was capable of disputing with him upon scriptura! 



CENTURY SIXTEENTH. 2$j 

ground. The greatest part of the public teachers, were 
yet divided into the classes of postivi and sententiarii, so 
often mentioned. No obstacle was yet offered to the 
right of private judgment, except in those instances 
where the supremacy of the Roman see or the temporal 
interests of the sacredotal and monastic orders, were call- 
edin question. The public worship of God was incum- 
bered with a mass of ceremonies, and those for the most 
part ridiculous. The ignorance of Christians on the true 
source of salvation, and the real character of piety, was 
almost incredible. Whatever practical godliness remain- 
ed in the church, appeared confined to the mystics, and 
even they combined so many of the errors common to 
their time, with their precepts of devotion, as to seem in 
many instances but little removed from fanatics. 

?. History of the Reformation to the Confession of 
Augsburg. 

While the Roman pontiff Leo slumbered in security 
at the head of the church, "and dreamed of the golden 
harvests which were yet to be gathered, there was sud- 
denly raised by the providence of God, an agent to ef- 
fect that change, which the pious and godly had been so 
long expecting with the utmost anxiety. This agent, 
so incompetent in all human appearance, to the vast 
work he was to undertake, was Martin Luther, a native 
of Aisleben, a monk of the order of Augustinian 
Eremites, and professor of divinity in the recently 
erected academy of Wittemberg. It was in the me- 
morable year 1517 that Luther first appeared as the 
champion of Reformation. Maximilian I. was then 
24* 



2 86 ECCLESIASTICAL HJSTOKY. 

emperor of the Germans, and Frederick the Wise was 
elector of Saxony, and both of them proved friendly to 
Luther and his cause. In this remarkable individual 
were united an incomparable genius, a vigorous memory, 
an astonishing zeal, a singular eloquence, an invinci- 
ble courage, a contempt of the world's applause, and 
an erudition, as even his enemies confess, far beyond 
the majority of his contemporaries. In philosophy he 
was a nominalist, in theology he followed the doctrines 
of St. Austin, but in both he preferred the language of 
the scriptures and the dictates of reason to any other 
guide. It would be equally rash and absurd for the 
historian to represent Luther as exempt from error, or 
as a model of Christian perfection ; but the least that 
can with any justice be said of him is, that he was go- 
verned by principle, and was generally influenced by a 
true zeal for the glory of God. The first occasion that 
offered itself to this wonderful man of opening the eyes 
of a deluded age, was furnished by John Tetzel, a do- 
minican monk* This frontless ecclesiastic, had been 
employed by Albert archbishop of Mentz and Magde- 
burgh, on account of his popular eloquence, to preach 
throughout Germany, those famous indulgences which 
gave remission for all sins, pas(, present and future, to 
those who were able and willing to purchase them. 
The gross improprieties of this spiritual traffic were at- 
tacked publicly by Luther, at Wittemberg, anno 1517, 
in ninety-five propositions. The subject of these pro- 
positions had scarcely passed the walls of the academy 
of Wittemberg, before its novelty and boldness set all 
Germany in a flame. Tetzel attacked Luther in public. 



CENTURY SIXTEENTH. 287 

at Frankfort on the Maine. There appeared as his allies 
on this arena of controversy, Sylvester de Prierio, 
Hoogstraten, and Eckius, a theologian of Ingoldstat, 
Against the logical weapons of these champions, the 
scriptures supplied Luther with armour of proof. 

After manifesting great indifference, Leo X. at last 
appointed a day for the trial of Luther at Rome. But 
the suspicions of Luther were raised, and he obtained 
leave, at the intercession of Frederick the Wise, to 
have the seat of his trial transferred from Rome to Augs- 
burg. At this latter place, therefore, he appeared on 
the 12th of October, anno 1518, to defend himself and 
opinions before Cardinal Cajetan, the legate of the 
Pope. The imperious conduct of Cajetan, after a con- 
ference of three days, ended in Luther's appealing 
from the present decisions of the pontiff, to those which 
he should pronounce on better information. A new 
circulation of indulgences and an open declaration, on 
the part of the Pope, of his own power to deliver from 
the punishment due to sin, occasioned Luther to repair 
in November, to Wittemberg, and to appeal from Leo 
to a general council. In the mean time, Charles Mil- 
titz, a Saxon knight, was entrusted with the important 
office of managing the negotiation with Luther. The 
mildness and prudence of Miltitz had gone nigh to af- 
fecting a reconciliation between the parties ; but all 
hopes of this kind were frustrated by a controversy 
carried on at Leipsic, anno 1519, between Eckius and 
Caroldstadt, the companion and friend of Luther. As 
Luther had contended against the power of the Roman 
pontiff, Caroldstadt combated against the doctrine of 



288 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

man's natural ability to do good. Among the specta- 
tors of the ecclesiastical combats carried on upon these 
subjects, was Philip Melancthon, professor of Greek at 
Wittemberg. Whether we consider the extent of 
Melancthon's knowledge, the fertility of his genius, the 
natural sweetness of his disposition, or his unaffected 
piety, few if any of the worthies of either ancient or 
modern times can bear a comparison with his worth. 

While Luther was thus contending in Germany against 
the power of Rome, it received a mortal wound in 
Switzerland, at the hands of Ulric Zuingle, a canon of 
Zuric, who, even before Luther began the work of re- 
formation, had called in question the Pope's supremacy, 
had been wont to expound the scriptures in public to 
the people, and had afterwards in the year 1519, victo- 
riously opposed the introduction of indulgences into 
Switzerland. 

All hopes of terminating the controversy between Lu- 
ther and the papal legate Miltitz, were abandoned, when 
Leo, in the month of June, anno 1520, condemned the 
doctrines of Luther in a public decree, and at the insti- 
gation of Eckius, issuing a bull against the reformer, 
summoned him to Rome upon pain of excommunica- 
tion. Unawed by these proceedings, Luther a second 
rime appealed to a general council, and publicly burnt 
In presence of avast concourse of people, in the month 
of December, the bull which condemned him. Thus 
withdrawn, by his own act, from the Romish commun- 
ion, he from this time contemplated the establishment 
of a system of doctrine and discipline, founded solely 
on the spirit and the precepts of the gospel. To op- 



CENTURY SIXTEENTH. 289 

pose the storm he saw gathering, Leo ceased not to 
importune Charles V. who had succeeded Maximilian 
as emperor of Germany, to assume the character of the 
church's advocate, and punish the contumacious sub- 
ject who had rebelled against its laws. The emperor, 
however, who was indebted to Frederick, the patron of 
Luther, for his exaltation to the imperial throne, was 
contented to summon the reformer to appear and an- 
swer for himself, at a diet assembled at Worms, anno 
1521. At this diet, which no fears could prevent his at- 
tending, Luther refused to surrender his opinion to any 
other opponents than reason and truth. After his depar- 
ture from Worms, he was condemned by the suffrages of 
the emperor and his princes, and declared an enemy to 
the Roman empire. Apprehensive of consequences, his 
friend Frederick of Saxony, ordered him privately to 
be seized en his return, and conveyed to the castle of 
Wartenburg.* The very punishments annexed to 
the perusal of Luther's writings, together with the vari- 
ous books that appeared against him, (among which was 
the celebrated production of Henry VIII. of England,) 
tended rather to further than retard the progress of thr 
reformation. In the month of March of the year 1522 : 
Luther left, of his own accord, the castle of Warten- 
burg, and repaired to his university in order to sup- 
press some disturbances which Caroldstadt and others 
had created. This imprudent professor had thrown 



* In this Patmos, where he remained for ten months, under the assumed 
name of Yonker George, he began that translation of the Scriptures which after 
wards proved of incalculable service to the cause of the reformatio^. 



290 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

down the images of the saints, which had been placed 
in the churches, and had given encouragement to the 
ill-timed violence of a fanatical multitude. Leo had 
now been succeeded in the pontificate by Hadrian VI. 
This pope, in a diet assembled at Nuremberg, anno 
1522, strongly urged, by his legate, the execution of the 
sentence which had been passed upon Luther. 

Relying upon the profession of a compromising disposi- 
tion which had been made, the German princes demanded 
that a general council should be assembled in Germany, 
and prohibited by a public law any further innovation in 
matters of religion, till an assembly of that kind should de- 
cide on a subject of such vital importance. Worn out by the 
importunities of Clement VII. who had succeeded pope 
Adrian, the princes came at last to the resolution of put- 
ting in force the edict of Worms as far as lay in their 
power ; but still continued to demand that a council 
should be called, and referred other matters to a future 
diet to be held at Spire. In the midst of these pro- 
ceedings two unhappy circumstances occurred to retard 
the progress of truth. The first of these arose from the 
controversy which was held between Luther and Zuingle. 
on the manner in which Christ might be said to be present 
in the eucharist.* The other was a civil war which was 
raised by a multitude of wrong headed fanatics, anno 15 25, 
and which from the character of those engaged in it, was 



* Zuingle asserted that the bread and wine were no more than external 
signs of the body and blood t while Luther, though rejecting the doctrine pi 
transubstantiation, was of opinion, that recipients received along with Ihf 
bread and wine the real bod}- of Christ, which doctrine is knowD by the name 
of C07isubstanticticn. 



CENTURY SIXTEENTH. 29l 

called the war of the rustics. Their object at first, ap- 
pears to have been the reduction of some burdensome 
taxes which their rulers had imposed, but after the cele- 
brated Munzer joined them, their views became extended 
to the subject of religion. These miserable fanatics 
were defeated in a pitched battle and their ringleaders 
put to death. Frederick the Wise having surrendered his 
pious spirit into the hands of his creator, was succeeded 
by his brother John a firm friend of the reformation. 
Under his auspices Melancthon and Luther set about 
the necessary work of framing a body of laws for the bet- 
ter government of the church, and these laws were pro- 
mulgated, anno 1527. When affairs had reached this 
crisis, the patrons of popery gave evident intimation of a 
design to employ force for the suppression of the cause 
of Luther. The German princes on the other hand began 
seriously to deliberate for providing by a confederacy 
against these hostile preparations. At the diet of Spire, 
anno 1526, a majority of the princes exhorted the empe- 
ror to assemble without delay a free and general council, 
Nothing could have been more favorable than this decree 
to the cause of the Reformers. The emperor was at 
this time not only occupied in regulating the affairs of his 
own dominions, but was highly indignant at the conduct 
of the pope, who had joined with his enemies the French 
and Venetians. The German princes therefore regulated 
the affairs of the church in their own dominions as agreed 
on. This repose was soon disturbed by another diet 
held at Spire, anno 1529, in which every change anterior 
to the meeting of a general council was declared unlaw- 
ful. In consequence of this intolerance, the elector of 
Saxony, the landgrave of Hesse, and other members of 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

the diet, who favored the reformation, appealed to a gen 
eral council and entered a solemn protest against Ike 
decree. From this circumstance arose the denomination 
of Protestants, given to all those who are opposed to the 
usurpations of the Roman see. The leaders of the Pro- 
testants had no sooner issued their protest, than they sent 
embassadors to the emperor then on his passage to Italy, 
to inform him of their proceedings. The indignant mon 
arch immediately ordered their messengers to be put un- 
der arrest, a measure which only added to the courage of 
the confederate princes. To put an end to those intes- 
tine and unhappy disputes which existed between the 
Helvetic and Saxon divines, on the nature of the eucha 
rist, Philip landgrave of Hesse, invited Luther and Zuin- 
gle with some other divines to hold a conference at Mar- 
purg, anno 1529.* The main subject was left at the 
close of the conference as they found it, but a mutual to- 
leration was agreed upon. At Bologna, the emperor 
held a conference with the pope upon the subjects in agi- 
tation, the result of which was an urgent demand on 
the part of Clement VII. that summary measures of co- 
ercion should immediately be taken against the heretical 
faction. Upon this the elector of Saxony ordered Luther 
and other divines to draw up a summary of the main ar- 
ticles of the reformed. These articles were accordingly 
composed in a conference at Sulzbach, anno 1529, and 
delivered to the elector at Torgaw, from which latter 
place they derive their name of the Torgaw articles. 
Their brevity however not appearing to furnish a suffi- 

* Luther attacked CEcolaropadius, and Melanctbon encountered Zuingle. 



CENTURY SIXTEENTH. 29£ 

vient declaration of the sentiments of the reformers. 
Melancthon was employed still farther to enlarge them, 
and the trust then committed to him resulted in the ele- 
gant and admirable Confession of Augsburg. 

There was now scarce any part of Europe, where 
the dawn of evangelical light had not arisen. Some con- 
siderable provinces had already renounced their obedi- 
ence to the church of Rome. Olaus Petri, a disciple of 
Luther, has the renown of having first carried into Swe- 
den the light of the reformation, and his efforts were 
warmly seconded by the illustrious Gustavus Vasa. In a 
conference which was held at Upsal, by the order of this 
monarch, anno 1526, between that reformer and Peter 
Gallius a zealous Romanist, a signal victory was gained 
by the former, and in the following year Gustavus was 
declared to be the head of the church in Sweden. In 
the year 1521, the light of the reformation was also ex- 
tended to Denmark, by the encouragement which its 
monarch Christian II., though a tyrant in principle, 
saw fit to bestow upon it. # At length, Christian III. 
after various impediments and numerous obstacles, and 
assisted by the labors of John Bugenhagius, a professor 
of Wittemberg, made a wise and well judged settle- 
ment of religious doctrine and discipline, and in a large 
assembly at Oudenessen, anno 1539, persuaded the no- 
bles of his dominions to accede to the change, and thus the 



* On his expulsion from the throne, partly for his attempt to introduce 
the reformation, his successor Frederick, duke of Holstein, not only suffered 
George Johannis and John Tausson to promulgate the doctrines of Luther, but 
in the diet of Oudenessen, anno 1527, procured a free permission to every ona 
to embrace either the Romish or Reformed religion. 

25 



294 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

reformation was finally extended throughout the whole of 
Denmark.* The bishops were forcibly deprived of their 
overgrown wealth, and in Denmark they continue to ex- 
ercise their functions under the title of Superintendents. 
Many learned and pious men under the protection of 
Margaret, queen of Navarre, and sister of Francis I. 
endeavored to imbue the minds of the French with the 
knowledge of the truth. Shortly after this period the refor- 
mation in France experienced a most powerful accession, 
in the renowned John Calvin, a native ofNoyon, of whom 
our limits will only permit us to say, that with numerous 
errors and a hot headed zeal, he must still be reckoned 
among the most distinguished ornaments of the reforma- 
tion. In Spain, Hungary, Bohemia, Poland, Belgium, 
and especially Britain, where the writings ofWicklifi 
were yet in esteem, there were many who befriended the 
doctrines entertained by the German reformers. 

§3. From the Augsburg Confession, to the War 
of SmalcalcL 

On the 20th of June, anno lb30, the diet of Augs- 
burg was opened by Charles V. On the 25th day of 
its session the Protestant confession of faith was read in 
German by Christian Boyer, the chancellor of Saxony, 
in the presence of the emperor and assembled princes.t 



* It is yroper hov.ever to observe, that in both Sweden and Denmark, politi- 
cal events had no inconsiderable share in the progress of the reformation. 

f To the copies of this confession -which -were then handed to the Emperor, 
were appended the names of John elector of Saxony, George Marquiss of 
Bradenburg, Earnest duke of I unenbuig, Philip landgrave of Hesse, Wolf- 
gang prince of Anhalt, and the Imperial cities of Nuremberg and Reutlingen. 
The language of this confession is that of Melanctlion,. the matter was supplied 



CENTURY SIXTEENTH. 295 

To this confession of Augsburg there appeared from 
the pens of the partizans of Rome, Eckius, Faber, and 
Cochlaeus, a refutation which was read in public on the 
third day of August. Melancthon composed from his 
memory of its arguments (for a copy was refused him) 
an eloquent answer under the title of a defence of the 
Augsburg confession. The moderate measures which 
were proposed by the friends of the reformation on the 
one hand, and the votaries of Rome on the other, were 
crushed by an imperial edict issued on the 19th of No- 
vember. In it the religion of Rome was beyond mea- 
sure extolled, a new sanction was given to the edict of 
Worms, and those princes and states who had with- 
drawn from the Romish communion, were earnestly ex- 
horted to return to its bosom. Whatever were the mo- 
tives of Charles in framing this decree, the Protestants 
now considered it as a duty due to themselves, to take 
measures for averting the storm which seemed to threaten 
them. In this and the following year they pursued their 
plan of defence, and invited the kings of England, France 
and Denmark, to enter into the league. Moved by the 
determined conduct which was manifested by the Protes- 
tants, and pressed by the danger of a war with the Turks^ 
the Emperor consented, on certain political conditions* 
entered into at Nuremberg, anno 1532, to annul the last 
edict, and allow the reformed churches the free exercise 



by Luther, who indeed gave his sanction even to the form in which it was drawn 
up by his eloquent coiieague. It consists of twenty-eight chapters on the 
most importaut subjects of religious faith. 

* The assistaece to be furnished him against the Turks, and the acknowledge 
ment of his brother Ferdinand as king of the Romans. 



29G ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

of their religion, until the subject should be determined 
in a general council. Pressed however upon all sides, and 
seeing no means of retreat, pope Paul III. was induced 
to issue letters throughout Christendom, for convoking a 
council, whose location he successively determined, 
anno 1536, should be at Mantua, anno 1537? at Vi- 
cenza, and finally in 1542, at Trent. The Protestants, 
on the other hand, in an assembly at Smalcald, anno 
1537, protested solemnly against a council whose loca- 
tion in either of the former places must render it partial, 
and had a new summary of doctrine prepared by Luther, 
called the articles of Smalcald. During the course of 
these transactions, anno 1533, there appeared in Mun- 
ster, a city of Westphalia, a set of outrageous fanatics 
who not only undervalued the sacraments and denied 
baptism to infants, and re-baptised, but declared war 
against all temporal rule and political institutions. Hav- 
ing taken the city of Munster, they proclaimed Bock- 
holt their leader, and committed the greatest enormities, 
Their reign however was short, the city was re-captured 
by its bishop, and some German princes, and the ring- 
leaders of the faction were put to death. 

Henry VIII. king of England, had gone so far as to 
write a defence of the papal cause against Luther, and 
in recompense of his work* had received from Leo X. 
the title of defender of tliefaith.i But the face of affairs 
was about to undergo a revolution. King Henry, when 
a youth, having married, though with many objections * 



* Said, by some, to be really the production of Erasmus. 

+ A title which, Spelman says, had belonged to the kings of England befon 



CENTURY SIXTEENTH. 297 

Catharine of Arragon, the widow of his brother Arthur, 
and aunt of Charles V. had lived with her some years, and 
begotten several children.* But in the year 1527, his old 
scruples on the legality of marrying a brother's wife revi- 
ved, and he eagerly demanded from Clement VII. the 
dissolution of his marriage. Under various pretences, and 
with ambiguous promises, the pope put off granting a re- 
quest, which he knew would be highly offensive to the 
emperor.t While the affair was in this state, Thomas 
Cranmer a divine of Canterbury, advised the king to 
apply to the most renowned theologians and acade- 
mics, for their opinion on the subject. The greatest 
part of the universities declared, anno 1530, the mar- 
riage unlawful. J Cranmer was called to the see of Can- 
terbury, and with great reluctance, on his part, was in- 
stalled, anno 1533. Weaned of the delSys and sub- 
terfugesof the Roman court, the king assembled a con- 
vocation of the clergy, and the marriage was declared 
in both houses to be void. Catharine was divorced, 
and the beautiful Anna Boleyn, whose charms had 
doubtless had their influence, was publicly declared 
queen.§ The conduct of the pope had alienated the 



* Mary alone survived. 

t The pope's legate, Campeigo, however, actually showed Henry a bull 
permitting the divorce, but would not let it go from his own hands. 

\ Many of the Jewish Rabbis did give it under their hand that the laws of 
Leviticus and Deut. were thus to be reconciled ; that the law of marrying a 
brother's wife, when he died without children, did only bind in the land of 
Judea, to preserve families and maintain their successions in the land as it had 
been divided by lot ; but that in all other places of the world, the law of Le- 
viticus of not marrying a brother's wife, was obligatory. 

% Henry hid married Anna the year before, 1532. —Burnet's Hist* Ref. vol. 
T, p. 139. 

*25 



>9S ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

affections of Henry from the church of Rome ; and 
he procured at length from the clergy, assembled in 
convocation, two years before they had sanctioned his 
divorce, the title now borne by the monarchs of England 
of Protector and supreme head of the Church and Clergy 
of England, To demonstrate that this title was by no 
means a nullity, he caused an act to be passed in Par- 
liament, anno 1534, by which the authority of the pope 
in England was forever abolished. In the following 
year, a visitation, and shortly after, a suppression of the 
monasteries was ordered,* and in 1541, the Bible in 
English was commanded to be set up in all churches 
and publicly read to the people. But Henry still de- 
clared his resolution to adhere to the Roman Catholic 
religion, and proved himself in earnest, by the zeal with 
which he procured a legal sanction of those well known 
six articles whicl} so much favored the Romish cause.f 
Such was the state of the reformation in England in the 
reign of Heniy VIII. 

A conference between the emperor and Protestants 
at Worms, anno 1540, was appointed by the former, and 
was removed the subsequent year to Ratisbon, where 
an anonymous memorial was presented, containing a 
project of peace. This conference, however, termina- 
ted like its predecessors, in nothing effectual. The 



* The wealth, of which these religious establishments were deprived, wed 
for the most part, into the royal coffers and those of the monarch's friends. 

t Protestants and Roman Catholics were indiscriminately punished when 
they refused obedience to his authority, even in matters of religion ; nor wa< 
it till the approach of death, that he manifested any desire for the abolition r>f 
the mass. 



CENTURY SIXTEENTH. 299 

expectation of all men now looked forward to a gene- 
ral council. The emperor evidenced his determination 
to unite with Paul III. in compelling the Protestants to 
submit to the council of Trent, which the pope was will- 
ing to call, and to which they objected, as necessarily 
rendered, by its location and other circumstances, too 
partial. The landgrave of Hesse, and the elector of 
Saxony, prepared to act on the defensive, and every 
thing foreboded a storm. In the midst of these mourn- 
ful prospects, Martin Luther, to whom arguments, pray- 
ers, and patience, seemed fitter weapons than the sword, 
surrendered his soul in peace into the hands of his cre- 
ator, on the 18 th of February, anno 1546. 

From the War of Smalcald, to the Peace of 
Augsburg. 

^4. The resolute conduct of the Protestants, afforded 
the emperor a pretext for declaring war against them, 
and the elector of Saxany, and landgrave of Hesse, 
cannonaded his camp at Ingolstadt. The war which had 
commenced favorably for these princes, assumed a dif- 
ferent aspect when the perfidious Maurice, duke of 
Saxony, invaded the dominions of his uncle John Fred- 
erick the elector. This gallant prince was taken pris- 
oner in battle, and Philip, landgrave of Hesse, was 
treacherously detained in prison by the emperor.* The 
invincible constancy of the Protestant princes, at last 



* Maurice, duke of Saxony 3 persuaded bim to throw himself on the Emperor's 
clemency, who promised him freedom and his friendship; but taking advantage 
of a close resemblance in two German words, kept him prisoner some time. 



300 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

drew the emperor to entertain the thoughts of peace 
With this design, a formulary was ordered to be drawn up, 
of such a character, that both parties might assent to it. 
till such time as a general council should be called. 
This ambiguous rule of faith, was denominated the inte- 
rim, and was promulgated in form of a law, anno 1548, at 
the diet of Augsburg. The proceedings of the council 
of Trent did not satisfy the emperor, and the friends 
of reformation had from the first protested against it. 
Though the popes were not present, they ruled every 
thing by their legates. The man who had hitherto occa- 
sioned many misfortunes to the Protestants, now became 
in the hands of providence an instrument for their good. 
Maurice, who had been raised to the electoral dignity for 
his services to the emperor, had long and ineffectually 
desired of that prince, the release of his father-in-law the 
landgrave of Hesse. Perceiving himself the dupe of 
Charles' designing policy, he shut that prince in In- 
spruck, anno 1552, and so obliged him to conclude at 
Passau the famous treaty of pacification, and to promise 
that a diet should be assembled in six months. This 
diet was opened at Augsburg, by Ferdinand, in the 
name of the emperor, anno 1555. On the 25th Sep- 
tember, after various debates, the free exercise of their 
religion, with an entire exemption from the papal au- 
thority, was conceded to all who had embraced the con- 
fession of Augsburg. 

While these things were pjissing in Germany, the 
reformation was going on with a steady progress in En- 
gland. On the death of Henry VIII. anno 1547, his 
son Edward VI. seriously set about effecting a syste- 



CENTURY SIXTEENTH. 30] 

ioatic reformation in the church. At the head of the 
learned men whom he appointed to carry his designs 
into execution, were archbishop Cranmer, and the bish- 
ops Ridley, Latimer, and Hooper, together with Martin 
Bucer, Peter Martyr, and Paul Fagius, who had been 
sent for from Germany. By the efforts of these indi- 
viduals and the encouragement given them, the images 
of the saints were removed from the churches ; clerical 
celibacy and auricular confession were abolished ; homi- 
lies were composed for the people's instruction ; and a 
liturgy was formed, anno 1552, for the use of churches 
in public worship. But the accession of Mary, the half 
sister of Edward, a bigoted Papist by education and 
birth, (/or her mother had been warmly attached to the 
church of Rome) had well nigh proved fatal to the 
cause of the English reformation. Cranmer was thrown 
into prison and subsequently burnt alive. The German 
congregation which had been established in London, 
was authoritatively dissolved, and numerous martyrs, 
among whom should be mentioned Latimer and Rid- 
ley, were committed to the flames. But on the death 
of Queen Mary, anno 1558, her successor Elizabeth, 
the daughter of Henry by Anna Boleyn, proceeded 
with zeal to complete the work her brother Edward 
had begun. Matthew Parker, the queen's former chap- 
lain and instructor, was raised to the see of Canter- 
bury. His consecration was performed at the church 
of St. Mary-le-Bow, by regularly consecrated bishops, 
on the 17th of December, anno 1559, and by him, and 
the bishops whom he consecrated for the other sees 
in England, the ecclesiastical discipline was placed upon 



302 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

the footing on which it now rests in that kingdom.* 
Among the neighboring nation of Scotland, the refor- 
mation had made its appearance, anno 1527, under the 
auspices of Patrick Hamilton, a nobleman of royal 
blood. Subsequently, under the reign of the unfortu- 
nate Mary Stewart, the burning of Wishart by Cardi- 
nal Beaton, so far roused the indignation of the people 
already imbued with the principles of the German re- 
formers, that they rose against the cardinal, hung him 
from his own window, and proceeded to destroy the 
ensigns of Romish superstition. The work was car- 
ried on with the utmost success, by the zealous endea- 
vors of the indefatigable Knox, and the disciples of 
Calvin who had returned from Geneva, anno 1559. In 
Ireland the reformation went pari passu with that in 
England. Bishop Brown commenced the work. It 
was retarded in the reign of Mary, and found a friend 
and supporter in her sister Elizabeth. The Walden- 
ses who in a former century had been scattered through- 
out the Netherlands, prepared the way for the doctrines 
of Luther. With the tyrannic yoke of Spain, the people 
threw off their spiritual allegiance to the pope. They 
had been driven to these measures by the jealous cruel- 
ties of Philip II. the son and successor of Charles V. 
in his abdicated throne of Spain, and by the terrors of 
the Inquisition which had been established amon» 



* The ridiculous story of his having heen irregularly consecrated at a 
•iwern, the ample refutation of it by the old earl of Nottingham who saw the 
lawful ceremony performed, and by Dr. Courayer a Roman Catholic divine t 
who has so ably defended the legality* of English ordinations, are well known 
to all who are acquainted with ecclesiastical history. 



CENTURY SIXTEENTH. 303 

them. The principal agents in procuring their civil 
and religious freedom, were William of Nassau, and 
Elizabeth of England. In Italy and Spain the refor- 
mation made some progress, but the apprehensions of 
Rome, were averted by the vigilance or cruelty of the 
Inquisition. 



SECTION II. 

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 

The Roman pontiffs (to their honor be it recorded) 
exhibited a greater zeal than formerly in propagating the 
Christian faith. The Jesuits especially, of whom here- 
after we shall say more, were employed in raising up 
men of learning and abilities, who might carry at the 
command of the pope the religion of the cross to the re- 
motest regions of the earth. The celebrated Jesuit, 
Francis Xavier, passed over into India, anno 1542, and 
seven years afterwards into Japan, whence he spread 
the knowledge of Christianity, over a great part of the 
continent and several of the islands in that remote 
region. Many others of his order, penetrated after his 
death into China. Among them was Matthew Ricci, an 
Italian, who rendered himself so acceptable to the Chi- 
nese nobility, by his skill in mathematics, that permission 
was granted him and his associates, to explain the gos- 
pel to the people. It is recorded, that fourteen Protes- 
tant teachers were sent from Geneva to America, anno 
1556. The English colonists moreover, who settled in 
America, carried with them the reformed religion, which 



J04 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

afterwards made a considerable progress in those newly 
discovered regions. Among the enemies of Christianity 
may be numbered several French wits, as Rabelais, Mon- 
tagne, Bonaventura, Doletus, and Charron. Leo X. 
together with Politan, Ochinus, Paracelsus and Taurel- 
lus were charged with holding opinions highly pernicious 
and destructive to all revealed religion. The restoration 
of letters astonishingly contributed to soften and refine 
the manners of this century. The class of philosophers 
was two-fold ; some investigated truth by contemplation, 
and either followed in the tract of a master, or selected 
what was best. Others pursued it by experiment, as did 
the whole tribe of Theo sophists. 



SECTION III. 

HISTORY OP THE ROMISH CHURCH. 

The Roman Pontiff is elected by seventy cardinals, 
who sit for the purpose in a sort of prison, called the 
conclave. Whatever he determines, concerning the 
welfare of the church, is or ought to be done on consul- 
tation with his cardinals and certain colleges or con- 
gregations, over each of which a cardinal is appointed 
to preside. The pontiff may indeed arrogate to him- 
self a supreme jurisdiction, and even infallibility, but 
many of those who acknowledge his authority, in par- 
ticular the French clergy, maintain, that every bishop 
derives immediately from Christ a portion of the 
spiritual power imparted to the church ; that the 
whole of this power is lodged in a general council ; 



CENTURY SIXTEENTH. 30 o 

and that the pope himself is liable to error. la the course 
of this century, John Bermudez was sent to the Abys- 
sinian Monophysites ; and this sacred expedition was af- 
terwards committed to the associates of Ignatius Loyola, 
By the command of Pius IV. Christopher Roderic went 
to bring over the Copts to the worship of Rome. A 
great contest having arisen among the Nestorians about 
choosing a patriarch, some preferring Simeon Barma- 
naas, and others Sulakas, the latter made his appearance 
at Rome, anno 1533. He was consecrated the same year, 
and under the new name of John, returned to his coun- 
try, accompanied by the legates of Julius III. From 
this time, the Nestorians were split into two factions- 
The Spaniards, and especially Alexius Menezies, bishop 
of Goa, compelled the Nestorians inhabiting the mari- 
time coast of India, and called the Christians of St. 
Thomas, to renounce their ancient rite£ and adopt 
those of Rome. The reformation proved beneficial 
even to the court of Rome. The proceedings of the 
inquisition were revised and corrected, colleges were 
established, indexes prohibitory of improper books 
were framed, and the youth were more fully imbued 
with the principles of the Romish Church. No circum- 
stance, however, was more calculated to support and 
strengthen the shaken edifice of papal greatness, than 
the institution of a new order of spiritual warriors, who 
assumed from our Saviour's name, the appellation of 
Jesuits, and who received the sanction of Paul III. 
anno 1540. Its ostensible founder and first general, 
was Ignatius Loyola, a Spanish knight. The order 



306 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

holds a middle rank between the monks and secular 
clerks. They are required to attend to all the trans- 
actions of the world on account of the influence these 
may have on religion, and a spirit of action and intrigue 
] s infused into all its members. The whole order is di- 
vided into professed members, scholars, and novice*. 
The professed members, to the vows of poverty, chasti- 
ty, and obedience, add a fourth which obliges them to 
submit implicitly to the orders of the pope. The other 
Jesuits, and particularly the scholars, are possessed of 
extensive revenues, and are obliged, when required, U 
assist the professed members. A general chosen for 
life, possesses supreme power extending to every per- 
son and every case. There is not in the annals of man- 
kind, any example of such a perfect despotism, exer- 
cised, not over monks, shut up in a convent, but over 
men dispersed among all the nations of the earth. 
Their chief by the information which is given him in 
the minutest particulars, may be said to have the very 
souls of the members in his hand. Bound by the 
strongest ties to the see of Rome, no order or body 
of men has been so zealous, active, or efficient in pro- 
moting her interests. By them she has put a stop to 
the progress of sects and heresies, by them she has 
drawn into her bosom vast numbers of idolatrous bar- 
barians, by them she has insinuated herself into the se- 
crets of almost every court of Europe, and by them 
has acquired an almost unlimited control over the coun- 
cils of princes. The unbounded favor of the popes 
to these instruments of their own greatness, and the 



CENTURY SIXTEENTH. 307 

uncommon talents of the Jesuits, procured for them an 
unexampled degree of power ; but with that power 
they also incurred the envy of other orders, and the 
hatred of almost all the Catholic world.* The ma- 
jority of the Roman pontiffs with many failings, exhibit- 
ed a far greater degree of moral rectitude and wisdom, 
than those who had occupied the same exalted station 
in the church previous to the reformation. It was 
Gregory XIII. who excommunicated Elizabeth of En- 
gland and reformed with the assistance of Lewis Lilio 
the disordered calendar. Sextus V. who was originally 
a shepherd's boy, and who in pride and in talents was 
surpassed by none of his predecessors, set forth a new 
edition of the Vulgate, which was subsequently correct- 
ed by Clement VIII., and which is yet regarded by the 
Romish church as authentic. The condition of the 
clergy does not appear to have undergone in this cen- 
tury any visible change. The foresight, and cautious 
policy of Rome, eluded the attempts, which were made 
by the bishops in the council of Trent, to recover their 
ancient rights. The burdensome tax, however, of re- 
servations, provisions, exemptions and expectatives, was 
abolished. The morals of the monkish orders were 
in many provinces confined within severer rules of dis- 
cipline. From the approval given by Clement VII. 



* The popes who governed the Romish church in this century, were Alex- 
ander VI. Pius 111. Julius II. Leo X. Adrian VI. Clement Vli. Paul III 
Julius III. Marcellus II. Paul IV. Pius IV. Pius V. Gregory XIII. Sextus 
V. Urban VIII. Gregory XIV. and Innocent IX, 



JOS ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

to restore the institutes of St. Francis, which were 
now fallen into decay, arose the order of Capuchins. 
Another branch of the Franciscan order formed a new 
community, who in France were called recollects, in 
Italy the reformed^ and in Spain the barefoot Fran- 
ciscans, and who were erected by authority of Clement 
VII. anno 1532, into a separate body. St. Theresia, 
with the assistance of John de St. Cruce, endeavored, 
and with some suceess, to restore the degenerated Car- 
melites to their primitive sanctity. The reformation 
of the monkish orders gave rise to various societies of 
regular clerks. The first of these called Theatini were 
formed by Peter Carafia, who afterwards ascended the 
pontifical chair under the title of Paul IV Supported 
solely by the charity of pious individuals, their profess- 
ed objects were, to aid the declining cause of piety, to 
reform the eloquence of the pulpit, to assist the sick 
and dying, and to oppose the progress of heresy. The 
establishment of the Theatins was followed by that of 
the regular clerks of St. Paul, who were also called 
Barjiabites, and whose principal occupation was that 
of travelling about to convert sinners, and awaken the 
impenitent. Of the other orders there is little worthy 
of note, unless we except the Priests of the Oratory \ 
who were founded by Philip Neri, and have ever been 
remarkable for the men of science they have produced. 
The two foundations, on which the religion of the 
church of Rome is built, are the written and unwritten 
word of God. But to meet the arguments drawn 
against them from the Holy Scriptures, the pontiffs al- 
lowed their champions to exalt tradition above the 



CENTURY SIXTEENTH. 309 

written declarations of the inspired volume. The 
vulgate translation of the Bible was pronounced to be 
the only authentic guide to evangelical truth. The 
pope was declared to possess the right of determining 
the true meaning of the scriptures, while permission to 
read them, was granted only to teachers, and such 
spiritual guides as the Romish court were well convin- 
ced would do nothing to affect her interest. Hence it 
has happened, that of the numerous commentators 
which appeared in the church of Rome, far the greater 
body exhibit a slavish restraint, and from every part of 
scripture endeavor to elicit a literal, anagogical, tro» 
pological and allegorical sense. Among the honora- 
ble exceptions to this remark were Erasmus of Roter- 
dam, cardinal Cajetan, Francis Tettelman, Isidore 
Clarius, Arius Montanus, and some others. When 
Luther first appeared as the advocate of reformation, 
the schoolmen and their divinity, were every where 
triumphant. But no sooner had the champion of re- 
ligious truth assailed this mode of disputation, than ne- 
cessity drove its advocates to resort to the fathers and 
to the scripture itself. All good men complained of 
the laxity introduced into moral theology by the sys- 
tem of the Jesuits. The whole tribe of writers, on this 
subject, was divided into scholastic, dogmatic, ^nd mys- 
tic, but the authority of the two former was greatly 
diminished after the reformation. Of those polemical 
theologians who defended the papal against the protes- 
tant cause, Robert Bellarmin deserves particularly to be 
distinguished. Omitting the minor controversies which 
agitated the Romish church, such as those between the 
26* 



UO ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

Dominican and Franciscan orders, the Scotists and 
Thomists, the Bishops and Pope, the Jesuits and Bene- 
dictines, it will be sufficient concerning even the more 
important, to mention their existence. The limit ol 
the pope's authority in the first place, was warmly dis- 
puted, and as vigorously defended by the Jesuits, who 
extended it beyond all human laws. Another contro- 
versy was carried on concerning the extent of church 
power, which the Jesuits also greatly enlarged. A 
third, respected the nature, operation and necessity of 
divine grace in procuring salvation, the doctrine of 
original sin, and the eternal decrees of God. A fourth, 
related to the principles of morality, and the rules of 
practical virtue, on which subject the Jesuits broached 
their doctrine of probability and philosophical sin. # 
A fifth, concerned the nature of the sacraments, and 
particularly the Lord's Supper, which many of the Ro- 
mish doctors affirmed to be necessarily effectual, or to 
rivail the recipient opere overato. The sixth dispute 
turned upon the proper method of instructing Chris- 
dans in their duty, which some maintained to be better 
done by keeping them in a devout ignorance and im- 
plicit obedience to the orders of the church. The 
most formidable controversy of a more private descrip- 
tion, was that occasioned by a work of Lewis Molina a 
Spanish Jesuit, on the agreement of grace and free will. 
To appease the fierce commotions which were created 



*A man according to their notions, does not sin, unless he be fully acquain' 
ed with the law, is in no doubt aboutjts meaning, and does not. forget it k 
♦he time of his transgression. 



CENTURY SIXTEENTH. 311 

as a consequence of this production, between the Do- 
minicans, who adhered to the doctrines of Thomas, 
and the Jesuits, who favored the sentiments of Molina, 
the congregation of aids was instituted by Clement 
VIII* 

The Roman pontiffs were loth that any part of that 
ostentatious ritual should be abolished which so greatly 
contributed to dazzle the e}'es and affect the feelings of 
an ignorant multitude. In a word, when we consider 
the various frauds that have been committed to delude 
the minds of the people, the ignorance which is en- 
couraged, the solemn buffoonery employed in religious 
worship, and the senseless oratory of the pulpit, it will 
be evident with what little regard to truth it has been 
said, that any material reformation was effected in the 
religious doctrine or discipline of the Romish church 
bv the council of Trent. 



SECTION IV. 

HISTORY OF THE GREEK AND ORIENTAL CHURCH. 

The whole of the Oriental or Greek church, may 
properly be divided into three parts ; those subject to 
the communion of the patriarch of Constantinople : 
those divided from that communion ; and those who ac- 
knowledge the bishop of Rome. 



* Molina asserted, that the decrees of God depended upon his foreknow* 
ledge of future contingents, and tlie effect of circumstances and objects uro$ 
rational beings- 



U2 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

That which is properly denominated the Greek 
church, is subject to the authority of the bishop of 
Constantinople, who is at the head of the other patri- 
archs. The patriarch of Alexandria for the most part re- 
sides at Cairo, and extends his jurisdiction to Egypt, 
Nubia, Syria, and part of Arabia. The patriarch of 
Antioch has his residence at Damascus, and exercises 
his authority over Mesopotamia, Cilicia, Syria, and 
parts adjacent ; while Cana of Galilee, the country be- 
yond Jordan, Mount Seir, and the rest of Arabia, are 
comprised within the limits of the patriarchate of Je- 
rusalem. The episcopal revenues of the three last 
bishops, are by no means considerable. The power of 
the patriarch of Constantinople, extends itself into 
Greece, and the Grecian isles, Wallachia, Moldavia, 
and many provinces which are subject to the empire of 
the Turks. The office of electing him, belongs to the 
twelve nearest bishops, but that election must be con- 
firmed by the sultan. The influence of this ecclesias- 
tic among a dispirited and sunken people is great and 
extensive, and is not a little enhanced by the dread in 
which they stand of his sentence of excommunication. 
The revenue is derived from a tribute imposed accord- 
ing to the means of his people. The holy scriptures, 
and decrees of the first seven general councils, are ac- 
knowledged by the Greeks, as the rule of their faith, 
and this faith is found expressed in the Orthodox Con- 
fession of the Catholic and Apostolic Eastern Church 
drawn up by Mogilaus and approved of by the council as- 
sembled at Kiow, anno 1643. It appears from this book 
that the Greeks differ in many respects both from the Ro« 



CENTURY SIXTEENTH. 31S 

rnish and other churches. Hence it has happened that the 
attempts made by the Protestants to form a union with 
them, have proved unsuccessful. Such an effort was first 
made by Philip Melancthon, and afterwards by the di- 
vines of Tubingen, who endeavored but in vain to win 
over to their cause Jeremiah II. the patriarch of the 
Greeks, by sending him a translation of the Augsburgh 
Confession and a compend of theology composed by 
Heerbrand. The doctrines and rites of the Greek church 
are acknowledged and observed by the Russians and 
Georgians, who pay no obedience however to the patri- 
arch of Constantinople. This bishop did indeed at one 
time appoint the Russian metropolitan. But, at the close 
of this century, the Muscovites obtained from Jeremiah 
II. with consent of a Greek council assembled at Con- 
stantinople, anno 1593, and the ratification of the Turk- 
ish emperor, the right of choosing their own ecclesiasti- 
cal head, and of being free from any foreign jurisdiction. 
The Georgians and Mingrelians, or Iberians and Colchi- 
ans, can with little propriety be longer numbered among 
Christians. These people have a spiritual ruler called 
the Catholic, as also other bishops and priests, who are 
generally a disgrace to the religion they profess, and are 
even worse in morals than those they undertake to di- 
rect. The oriental christians who are avowedly sep- 
arated from the communion of the Greek church are 
the Monophysites and the Nestorians. The former, 
or Jacobites, are divided into Asiatics and Africans. 
At the head of the Asiatic branch, is the patriarch oi 
Antioch, with his colleague the. primate or Mephranius 
(as he is called) of the East. The African Monophy- 



314 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

sites obey the patriarch of Alexandria, and embrace in 
their communion the Copts, a miserable people who in- 
habit Nubia and the neighboring parts, as well as the 
Abyssinians, who though surpassing the Copts in num- 
ber and power, are content to receive from the patri- 
arch of Alexandria a primate, to whom they give the 
appellation of Abbuna. The Armenians, though joined 
to the Monophysites in the main doctrines of that sect, 
differ in many rites and institutions. Their patriarch 
or Catholic, lives in a monastery at Echmiazin. He 
is chosen by a vote of the bishops, and their choice is 
confirmed by the monarch of Persia. There are three 
other bishops besides these, who assume the title of 
Catholic, one of whom resides at Cis in Cilicia, the 
other in Albania, and the third in Agthamari. The 
Nestorians or Chaldeans principally dwell in Mesopo- 
tamia. Of all the Eastern Christians these have pre- 
served themselves purest from the corruptions which 
have crept into the Greek and Latin churches, Yet 
even these, having hitherto acknowledged the au- 
thority of one Catholic, unhappily became divided in 
this century into three parties, one of whom became 
addicted to the Latin • rites and Romish communion. 
Besides these Christian societies, there were scattered 
throughout a great part of Asia a variety of sects, evi- 
dently drawing their origin from the ancient Maniche- 
ans, Valentinians, Ophites, and other heretics. The 
Sabians, Mendai, Ijahi or Christians of St. John, for 
they are but one sect, reside at Persia and Arabia, but 
principally at Bassora, and in all probability, are derived 
11 the ancient Hemerobaptists, who made it a point 



CENTURY SIXTEENTH. 315 

of religion to wash themselves every day. The Jasi- 
dearts who pay a sort of reverence to the evil genius, 
frequent the Georgian mountains. The Ckamisi or 
Solares inhabit Mesopotamia. The Duruzi, a warlike 
nation who dwell among the craggy rocks of Libanus, 
are together with the Curds supposed to be Manicheans. 
Among most of these sects, the Roman pontiffs have 
found means, as they have in the Greek church, to es- 
tablish congregations. To enlarge the number of pro- 
selytes, there is a college at Rome, in which young 
Grecians are instructed in the liberal arts and sciences, 
while particular care is taken to imbue them with a 
reverence for the Romish see. Many efforts were 
made to effect a junction between the Russian and Ro- 
man churches ; but they proved unsuccessful. Some 
of those Russians, however, who inhabit the Polish do- 
minions, made a league with the Latins in a meeting 
at Breste, anno 1596, and from that period were known 
by the title of United. The missionaries of Rome 
made but little impression among the Monophysites, 
Part of the Armenians had, before this century, em- 
braced the Romish discipline, and received a domini- 
can archbishop. The Georgians and Mingrelians, re- 
sisted and disgusted the Theatins and Capuchins; nor 
could the missionaries effect much in any other of their 
stations, except the occasional and secret baptism of 
infants, and the enticing of some few Greeks into the 
Romish communion, by the hope of reward. To such 
adopted sons, the Roman pontiffs exhibited a singular 
degree of indulgence, and even allowed them to retain 
various usages and rites incompatible with their new 



316 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

profession. The whole body of Maronites whoinhal> 
it Libanus and Anti-Libanus had acknowledged the pa- 
pal jurisdiction from the period of the Crusades, 
Gregory XIII. instituted a college for them at Rome. 
Their principal bishop claims the title of patriarch of 
Antioch, and assumes the surname of Peter. 



SECTION V. 

HISTORY OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

The origin of the Lutheran church should be dated 
irom the time in which Leo X. excommunicated Lu- 
ther. It began to acquire stability and consistence. 
anno 1533, and became an independent hierarchy, 
•when Maurice of Saxony procured from Charles V. 
the pacification of Passau, anno 1552. The leading 
principle of this church, is that the holy scriptures 
alone are to be the rule of our faith and practice. Its 
sentiments are embodied, and perspicuously set forth, 
in the confession of Augsburgh, the defence of that 
confession written by Melaucthon, and the articles oi 
Smalcald, together with Luther's Catechisms the greater 
and less. The civil rulers of the land are supreme 
heads of the Lutheran church ; but the ancient privile- 
ges of the people are still secured. The authority oi 
a superintendent over other presbyters, is esteemed i\ 
matter of expediency, but episcopacy is not received as 
b divine institution. The sovereign appoints to watch 



CENTURY SIXTEENTH, 31J' 

over the interests of the church certain councils called 
Consistories. Every country has its own liturgies ; 
and these are regulated according to times, condition., 
and circumstances. For the instruction of young 
persons, catechisms are published in every province ; 
but those of Luther are generally adopted as the most 
accurate exposition of the Lutheran faith. The Lu- 
theran church observes as festivals, such days as were 
anciently set apart in commemoration of the events of 
our Saviour's life, and in many places adds to these., 
days dedicated to the twelve apostk>3. She has also 
endeavored, to restore to its original purity, the power 
lodged in his church by Christ of excommunicating 
unworthy members. The progress of the Lutherans 
after the treaty of Passau, was not as rapid as 
it had been before. An ecclesiastical reservation pre- 
viously entered into at Passau, prevented any Ro- 
mish bishop who was inclined to adopt the protestant 
faith, from holding or continuing to hold his benefice. 
None felt, however, the implacable animosity of the 
Romish church more severely, than those Protestants 
who inhabited the territories of princes attached to 
her communion, especially in Austria. Alarmed by 
the various plans put on foot, for the destruction of their 
religious polity, the Lutherans began to take measures 
to secure it. Princes were invited to join in their 
alliance, and great pains were taken to promote the 
advancement of learning. The limits of theological 
erudition, in particular, were greatly enlarged ; while 
no inconsiderable degree of light was thrown upon the 
articles of the Lutheran faith, by the controversies 
27 



318 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

carried on upon the one hand, with Roman catholic 
divines, and upon the other, with the disciples of Zuin- 
gle and Calvin. The principal care of the public 
teachers of religion, was very properly bestowed in 
illustrating the Sacred Volume ; and, as eminent for 
their zeal in this laudable undertaking, occur the immor- 
tal names of Luther, Melancthon, Flacius, Bugenha- 
gius, Jonas, Osiander, Chemnitz, and Camerarius. In 
didactic theology, Melancthon took the lead in his 
Loci Communes, a work at this day in the highest re- 
pute. Perpetual controversies prevented that attention 
which ought to have been bestowed on the subject of 
morals. The infancy of the Lutheran church, was 
disturbed by a rabble of wrongheaded fanatics, who 
pretended to be authorized by divine inspiration, to 
found upon earth a new kingdom of Christ. The 
ringleaders of these turbulent spirits, Munzer, Storch- 
ius, and Stubner, occasioned among the people the 
most formidable commotions. The eminent Carold- 
stadt lent a too favorable ear to certain of these fa- 
natics, ann3 1522, and excited, as has been mentioned, 
great disturbances at Wittemberg. Compelled to 
leave Saxony, he repaired to Switzerland, and there 
attacked the sentiments of Luther on the nature of 
the eucharist.* About the same time, in the year 1524, 
Caspar Schweckenfeldt, a Silesian knight, broached 



* The expression of Christ " this is my body" he explained, by supposing 
that our Lord pointed to his real body at the time. His views upon the sub- 
ject were enlightened by the expositions ©f Zuingle, and he afterwards be- 
came professor and pastor at Zurich. 



CENTURY SIXTEENTH. 319 

several opinions different from those expressed in the 
confession of Augsburgh. Luther, Flacius, and Osi- 
ander drew their pens against him, but though banished 
from his country, he obtained a number of follow- 
ers.* Upon the death of its founder, various subjects 
of dispute unhappily agitated the Lutheran church, 
Melancthon, who was now at its head, was thought by 
many to be too lenient to the practices and corruptions of 
the Romish church. Osiander, in the year 1529, 
produced some sharp contentions concerning the man- 
ner in which the sinner may be said to be justified. 
He appears to have maintained, (for his language is 
very confused) that man is not justified by the im- 
puted obedience, but by the essential righteousness 
of the divine nature of Christ, who dwells in true 
Christians by faith. In opposing this opinion of Osi- 
ander, Stancar, an Italian divine, ran into an oppo- 
site extreme, by affirming that the mediatorial office 
of our redeemer, was to be referred not to his divine, 
but to his human nature. But the controversies which 
were termed the Adiaphoristic , Synergistic, and Fla- 
cian, proved still more injurious to the Lutheran 
cause. The first of these owed its origin to the edict 
of Charles V. called the Interim. For, Melancthon, 
on its being issued, had given his opinion, that many 
of the rites commanded by the emperor might be ob- 
served with a safe conscience. This lenity was dis- 



* Zuingle, who held the expression *' this is my body," to mean this bread 
represents my body, acknowledged Schweckenfeldt's doctrine to be the same 
3-/ his own, 



320 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

pleasing to many divines, and a religious war must 
have been the consequence, had not the peace procured 
by Maurice, elector of Saxony, given to the contro- 
versy an happy termination. This dispute, concerning 
things indifferent in themselves, became the parent of 
another, set on foot by George Major, a Wittemberg 
theologian, who had warmly maintained that good 
works were absolutely necessary to salvation. In op- 
posing this doctrine, Nicolaus Amsdorf went so far as 
to assert, that good works were even a hindrance to salva- 
tion, and the controversy was prolonged until finally com- 
posed by the Form of Concord. The Synergistic dis- 
pute, arose out of the opinion entertained by Melanc- 
thon, that man in the work of grace co-operates with 
the Holy Spirit^ and that the human will was not en- 
tirely inactive. The genuine followers of Luther had 
not among them a bolder champion or warmer dispu- 
tant than Matthew Flacius, who had been placed for 
his erudition at the head of the academy of Jena. 
But, maintaining against Strigelius, in a public dispute 
at Weimar, anno 1 560, the sentiment, that man is pas- 
sive in the work of grace, he ran into the strange 
hypothesis, that original sin is of the very substance of 
human nature and not a mere accident. The full 
meaning of these philosophical terms, he professed to 
understand, and maintained his opinion in the midst of 
misfortunes, to the day of his death. These calamities 
of the Lutherans were still further augmented, by the 
attempts which were made to introduce throughout 
Saxony, the notions of Calvin concerning the eucha- 
rist, and the human nature of Christ. The authors of 



CENTURY SIXTEENTH. 321 

this attempt were called Crypto-calvinists* The cause 
was tried before Augustus elector of Saxony, anno 
1574, and terminated in a sentence against the Crypto- 
calvinists, many of whom were severely treated. Af- 
ter the death of Melancthon, and when the warmth of 
the disputants had rendered one attempt at reconcilia- 
tion abortive, the elector Augustus, resolved to take 
further measures for procuring the peace of the church. 
The foundations of his plan were laid, by calling a 
convocation at Torgau, anno 1574, which ended as we 
have seen in favor of the rigid Lutherans. While this" 
convention was sitting, a treatise was composed, anno 
1576, by James Andreae, with a design to heal the ex- 
isting divisions. Its subject matter being weighed and 
re-modelled by the principal Lutheran divines of Ger- 
many, it was published to the world under the title 
of a. Form of Concord. This little volume, however, 
was highly offensive, not only to those of the Reformed 
church, whom it cut off from any hope of a union with 
the Lutherans, but to many also of the latter, some of 
whom were secretly attached to the sentiments of the 
Helvetic doctors, and others did not like to see the memo- 
ry of Melancthon treated with obloquy. Even Julius, 
duke of Brunswick, to whom in a great measure it owed 
its existence, allowed it to be opposed in his university of 
Helmstadt, and to be excluded from the number of creeds 



* Melancthon is charged with having been at their head, but it was not until 
after his- death that Peucer, hisson-io law united with other philosophers in 
boldly publishing a catechism, which contained sentiments modified from 
those of Luther concerning the corporal presence. 

27* 



%%% ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

adopted by his subjects. The friends and followers of 
Melancthon, were favored by Christian I. who succeeded 
his father Augustus, and they employed every means in 
their power to bring it into discredit. But after the 
death of Christian, affairs assumed another aspect, and 
the enemies of the Form suffered various hardships. 
At the close of this century, Samuel Huber a divine of 
Wittemberg, broached certain opinions concerning 
election and predestination, which appeared to his col- 
leagues, different from the Lutheran. He taught that 
all men were chosen from eternity to eternal life, but 
that some by their unbelief would exclude themselves 
from the benefits of this election. The controversy 
which arose upon the subject, was soon terminated by 
the deposition and banishment of Huber.* 






SECTION VI. 

HISTORY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 

Under this title are to be included all those, except 
the Lutherans, who broke off from the corruptions of 
the Romish church, and are united in sentiment upon 
certain fundamental articles of religion, though they 



♦In closiug this sketch of the Lutheran church it may not be unadvisable 
to present the reader with a list of the principal -writers. After Luther unr* 
Melancthon, the most noted were Weller, Chemnitz, Flacius, Regius, Major, 
A. msdorff, Wigand. Lambert, Andreae, Chytraeus, Bucer, Fagius, Cruciger, 
Strigelius, Spangenberg, Judex, Heshusius, Westphal, (Epinus and Osiander. 



CENTURY SIXTEENTH. 323 

differ in other very important particulars.* The re- 
formed church thus considered was founded by Ulric 
Zuingle a native of Switzerland. One of the chief 
subjects of difference between this reformer and Luther, 
related to the eucharist, of which Zuingle asserted, that 
the bread and wine were mere symbols of our Saviours 
body and blood, while Luther, it is known, maintained 
the actual presence of Christ's body in those elements, or 
the doctrine of consubstantiation. In his opinions, Zuin- 
gle was ably supported by John CEcolampadius ; and 
all hopes of reconciliation between the contending par- 
ties disappeared, when in the year 1544, Luther edit- 
ed his Confession concerning the eucharist. On the 
death of this reformer, the efforts of Melancthon to 
bring about a union, were seconded by Calvin, who 
modified the expressions of Zuingle, so as to be more 
nearly assimilated to those of the Lutherans. He firmly 
denied the actual presence of Christ's body in the bread 
and wine, but supposed that a certain virtue or efficacy 
was communicated by Christ with those elements, to 
their faithful recipients, and explained this sentiment in 
language closely allied to that employed by the con- 
sub stantialists. To this formidable controversy, there 
was added another, which had reference to the decrees 
of God. The first Helvetic divines, with Zuingle at their 
head, held the doctrine, that eternal happiness was open 



* The title would indeed have properly embraced the Lutheran, as well as 
other churches ; but of that as being the first and most conspicuous on the con- 
tinent a more full account it was thought would be acceptable to the reader; 
as the rest with the exception of the church of England, may be considered 
of minor importance to us in this country. 



'324 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

to all who lived agreeably to right reason. Calvin on the 
other hand, maintained, that God, governing all things 
by his own good pleasure, had decreed the everlasting 
misery or happiness of man by an immutable law of 
his divine will. This sentiment occasioned infinite 
dissensions among all the Reformed churches. In 
1541, its author, John Calvin, who surpassed almost all 
the men of his age in extent of genius and greatness 
of parts, was re-called to Geneva, whence he had been 
forced to retire. With the vast design of giving laws 
to all the reformed churches and bringing them under 
the same form of government and discipline, he estab- 
lished an academy at that city, anno 1558. From that 
period Geneva became the resort of those who were 
anxious to perfect themselves in science, while the re- 
nown of its illustrious ornaments Calvin and Beza. 
gave it a brilliant reputation. To this institution was 
owing the rapid circulation through England and other 
countries of those doctrines now known by the name 
of Calvinistic. Frederick III. elector palatine, was 
the first of the German princes, who, anno 1560, in- 
troduced into his dominions the Calvinistic in place of 
the Lutheran divines. His son Lewis, however, about 
forty years after, restored the Lutheran doctrines to 
their former degree of eminence. They fell a second 
time into disrepute, anno 1583, when John Casimir 
was raised to ihe dignity of elector palatine, and from 
this period the whole of the palatine church may be 
considered as anti-Lutheran. The republic of Bre- 
men, and several other German provinces, at the close 
of the century, adopted the views and sentiments of 



CENTURY SIXTEENTH. 325 

Calvin. The French Protestants had at first ranked as 
Lutherans ; but, before the present century had run 
one half its course, the uncommon zeal of Calvin, 
Farrell, and Beza, effected a change, and they became 
henceforth addicted to the mode of worship and doc- 
trines used and held in Geneva. This numerous body 
of men, under the title of Hugonots, (a word of uncer- 
tain derivation) were cruelly harrassed and persecuted 
by the Roman Catholics notwithstanding they counted 
several princes of the house of Valois in their num- 
ber. The duke and family of Guise, the most power- 
ful subjects in France, had declared themselves openly 
to be enemies of the reformation. Assisted by Ce- 
therine de Medicis, the mother of Charles IX. the 
reigning monarch, they laid a horrible plot, for a gen- 
eral destruction of the Protestants. The result, as is 
well known to the reader of civil history, was the 
ever memorable massacre of St. Bartholomew, when 
30,000 protestants were treacherously murdered.* 
The peace which was granted them, by Henry III. 
successor to Charles IX. did not pacify the storm for 
any continuance. But after the death of the duke of 
Guise, who was at the head of the Catholic league, 
Henry Bourbon of Navarre, a nephew to the great Con- 
de, succeeded Henry III. on the throne of France, anno 
1588. Finding it to be the only means of putting an 
end to the civil commotions which still raged in his 



* This number were not slain on the eve of St. Bartholomew as was intend- 
ed, but in the space of two months after, anno 157*2. 



326 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

dominions, Henry IV. made an open profession of 
the Romish faith. One of the first acts, however, 
of his glonous reign was to publish in the year 1598, 
the celebrated edict of "Nantes, which confirmed to 
his protestant subjects the liberty of serving God, ac- 
cording to their consciences. 

The Scottish church as reformed by the cele- 
brated John Knox, still retained her attachment to 
the form of ecclesiastical government established at 
Geneva. In the Belgic provinces, it was for some time 
doubtful, whether rhe friends of the reformation would 
embrace the communion of the Swiss or Lutheran 
church. In 1571, the matter was determined, by the 
appearance of the Belgic Confession, which breathed 
the language of Calvin, and was expressed in terms 
very similar to that which had been adopted in the re- 
formed churches of France. From this time, the 
Dutch assumed the title of reformed, although, while 
under the Spanish yoke, fear induced them to pass un- 
der the name of the assofcial es of the Augsburgh con- 
fession, as less offensive to their royal master. At a 
very early period of the reformation, the Bohemian 
brethren, descendants of the better sort of Hussites, 
were received by Luther into communion.* The Wal- 
denses, from their neighborhood to France and Gene- 
va, were naturally induced to follow the practices com- 
mon to the protestant churches in the former country. 



* The Bohemian brethren, above mentioned, urited themselves in the fol- 
lowing century to the Swiss chureh. the articles of faith being Calvinistic, as 
drawn up in the synods of Astrog, anno 1620, 1627. 



CENTURY SIXTEENTH. 327 

The books and disciples of Luther had induced the 
Hungarians and Transylvanians to shake off the yoke 
of Rome ; but some time after, the doctrines of the Swiss 
churches respecting the eucharist and the principles of 
ecclesiastical government found a favorable reception 
and a permanent footing among them. 

It may be again repeated that not all the churches we 
have thus considered under the general character of 
Reformed, have agreed in the same tenets, rites and in- 
stitutions. They all consider the scriptures as the rule 
of faith, but the church of England appeals in all 
matters of fact, with the utmost reverence, to the 
writings of the fathers during the first five centuries, 
and to the general councils held in that period.* 
The question long agitated in England and Holland, 
which regarded the person to whom the right of govern- 
ing the church belonged, was determined in the former 
country, in favor of the civil magistrate assuming a cer- 
tain authority in church affairs. The title of Supreme 
head of the church belonging to the English monarchs 
was interpreted by Queen Elizabeth to signify, that 
the ministers of religion, not religion itself, the per- 



* Those of the reformed churches who embrace the sentiments of Calvia 
differ from the Lutherans in maintaining the affirmative of the following 
points. 1. That the elements of the eucharist are not, after consecration, con- 
substantially, but symbolically, the body and blood of our Lord. 2. That the 
decrees of God concerning man's salvation are not founded on previous know- 
ledge, but are free and absolute. 3. That rites and ceremonies, not found in the 
scriptures, (such as the form of exorcism still used by the Lutherans) border 
on superstition, or tend to promote it. These heads of difference have furnished 
themeansof inexhaustible controversies, such as that respecting the character 

and benefit of the sacraments, the majesty of Christ's human nature, the doc- 
trine of necessity, the connexion between the providence of God and man'*- 

free will, the origin and propriety of rites, the use of things indifferent, a nd 

Christian liberty. 



328 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

sons of the clergy, not the church, were subject to the 
civil power. The sacred order in that kingdom, are 
divided into the upper and lower house of convoca- 
tion, which are convened at the king's command by the 
archbishop of Canterbury, to consult for the good of 
the church, and their determinations to receive the sanc- 
tion of king, lords, and commons, in parliament assem- 
bled. The subject of the ministry and government of 
the church has agitated the Reformed churches to an 
exceeding degree. Those who adhere to the Swiss 
form, and bow to the authority of Calvin, are of opin- 
ion, that the particular affairs of each church should 
be directed by a body of presbyters equal among 
themselves, that matters of a more public and impor- 
tant nature were to pass under the judgment of a synod 
composed of deputies from each church ; while sub- 
jects which concerned the welfare of the sacred com- 
munity in general, should be examined by an assembly 
of the whole church. The English church, on the 
contrary, has ever maintained with the utmost steadi- 
ness, that Christ and his apostles established a ministry 
which he intended to be unchangeable, because the so- 
ciety or church he established on earth was to exist to 
the end of the world. This ministry she supposes to 
consist in the three orders of bishops, who have the 
charge of a diocese or province, and are alone capable 
of propagating the ministerial character, priests, who 
administer the ordinances in a particular congregation, 
and deacons, whose office it is to assist the two former 
when circumstances render it advisable.* This form 

* In the midst of those differences which subsisted between the Episcopalian? 
and Non-conformists, numerous letters passed between the latter and their 



CENTtfKY SIXTEENTH. 329 

of episcopal polity, is common to the Bohemian and 
Moravian brethren, with the church of England. The 
propriety of excluding from participation in religious 
ordinances, ungodly and profligate members) was a 
point admitted by all the reformed teachers. In Gene- 
va especially, ecclesiastical discipline was maintained 
with the utmost strictness and severity, as was shewn 
in the banishment of Seb. Castalio, Bolsec, and Ochinus, 
for opposing the doctrine of predestination. Learn« 
ing, and especially that which related to theology, was 
in this century cultivated with great ardor and suc- 
cess by all the reformed churches, as well as in Great 
Britain. Among the commentators on the Sacred 
volume, were Zuingle, Bullinger, CEcolampadius, and 
Musculus. In dogmatic theolgy, Zuingle, Peter Martyr, 
Musculus and Piscator, and above all, Calvin, dis- 
tinguished themselves. As moral w r riters, there were 
none, who, considering the great improvement of the 
times, can be particularly commended. Besides Zu- 
ingle, Calvin, and Beza, the most noted of the Hel- 
vetic, or Calvinistic reformers, were CEcolampadius, 
Bullinger, Farel, Peter Martyr, Musculus, Lavater, 
Hospinian, and Ursinus. 

The Church of England never inclined very favor- 



friends on the CoDlinent. The answer of these divine?, among others of Calvin, 
Bullinger, and Gualter, was an invariable exhortation to the Puritans, not to 
break communion with the established church on account of those things to 
which they objected ; for that a well regulated episcooacy was very far from 
being contrary to the word of God, that the use of garments by the clergy, 
was among things indifferent, and that conformity was preferable to making r 
schism. 

28 



330 ECCLESIASTCAL HISTOKY. 



ably to that of Geneva, though some of her clergy 
adopted the sentiments of Calvin, on the subject of the 
divine decrees, and other points of less consequence. 
In the reign of Edward VI. when the English clergy 
were framing a form of worship and discipline, Hooper, 
bishop of Gloster, had excepted to the clerical garments 
still retained, as savoring of superstition. By the per- 
suasions of Bucer and Peter Martyr, who represented 
the subject as of an indifferent kind, he was induced to 
withdraw his opposition, and the reformation proceeded 
without any disturbance for some time. To the Confes- 
sion of Augsburgh, the English reformers appear to 
have bestowed, in framing the articles and worship of 
their church, the strictest attention. On the death of 
Edward VI. and during the persecutions which follow- 
ed in the reign of Mary, many learned theologians took 
refuge on the Continent, and particularly at Geneva 
It was here they imbibed a strong attachment to the 
mode of government and form of religion introduced by 
Calvin, and which, on their return to England in the 
protestant reign of Elizabeth, they endeavored to in- 
troduce. Some of them expressed their desires on this 
point, in six articles, presented to the lower house of 
convocation, which however w r ere rejected. In the 
mean time, the garments used by the clergy were ano- 
ther source of grievance to these anglico-continental di- 
vines. Queen Elizabeth, by advice and assistance of 
her bishops, and other learned men, issued the famous 
act of uniformity, by which her subjects were com- 
manded to adopt the established worship, which had 
been framed from such ancient and lonir established 



CENTURY SIXTEENTH. 331 

iuodes in the purest churches of the first ages, as were 
thought best adapted to preserve religion incorrupt. 
To these proceedings, such as looked on the Geneva 
as the only evangelical discipline, refused to accede ? 
and were hence called Puritans^ and sometimes Non- 
conformists* In 1566, the dissenters held an assem- 
bly for the purpose of making a formal secession from 
the Church of England, and in the following year, a 
commencement was made, from which flowed impri- 
sonment, exile, and various other judicial punishments, 
the penalties imposed upon non-conformists. Their 
petition to parliament, anno 1572, for a redress of griev- 
ances, was made in vain ; and in the same year they es- 
tablished a presbytery, which was soon extended from 
London to the rest of England. From this period, the 
Puritans began to be called Presbyterians. Great pains 
had been bestowed by the English reformers, to model 
their church after those which existed in the purest 
ages of Christianity ; and great caution had been used 
in rejecting any thing, solely on the ground of its once 
having belonged to the church of Rome. On* this judi- 
cious principle, it had been thought necessary to con- 
tinue the order of bishops in the church, and care had 
been taken to perpetuate the episcopal succession, in 
the person of archbishop Parker. The Puritans, on 
the other hand, contended that among all ministers of 



* It is more proper, perhaps, to say that tne uarae of Puritans >^as bestowed 
on these dissenters, from their professing solely to follow the pure word of God. 
The title, non-conformists, was originally applied to those refugees, n ho, being 
settled in Germany refused to follow there the rites authorised by Edward 
VI. while others of their countrymen could find nothing in them objectionable ; 



332 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

the gospel, there was a jure divino parity. Their in- 
dignation, accordingly, was greatly excited, when Rich- 
ard Bancroft, afterwards archbishop of Canterbury, pub- 
licly maintained, anno 1558, that the order of bishops, 
not as a matter of expediency, but by express appoint- 
ment of God, was superior to that of presbyteis. Nor 
has the church of England, from this period of the re- 
formation, ever acknowledged the validity of adminis- 
trations by any other than an episcopally ordained 
ministry ; though it would appear that she at first held 
communion with the church of Geneva, as one which, 
through necessity, was established without the episco- 
pal succession. The Puritans, moveover, objected to 
cathedral churches, and demanded the abolition of arch- 
deacons, deans, canons, and other officials. They 
thought the established mode of worship was too pom- 
pous in its character, and strongly impugned the pro- 
priety, expediency, and even utility of forms of prayers, 
together with the sign of the cross in baptism, the ob- 
servance of festivals, the kneeling at the sacrament, the 
bowing at the name of Jesus, the giving a ring in mar- 
riage, and confirmation by the bishop. 

The first Puritans, it should be observed, were of a 
much more moderate and candid temper than those 
who under the same name, occasioned shortly after this 
period, and for many subsequent years, such great com- 
motions in England ; and required the civil and milita- 
ry arm to repress their rebellious spirit. Among the 
various divisions into w T hich the Puritans split, even 
during the reign of Elizabeth, none is more remarkable 
than the sect of the Brownists, so called from their 



CENTURY SIXTEENTH. 333 

founder, Robert Brown, who began to propagate the 
opinions, anno 1581, that any number of persons col- 
lected together in an ordinary place of worship, consti- 
tuted an independent church, competent to form laws 
for itself.* He placed it in the power of the people to 
reduce their pastor at any time to his former equality 
with themselves ; and, even while he held his office, any 
member might at pleasure exhort or prophecy to the 
whole assembly. The founder of this sect, returning from 
exile, took orders in the established church ; while his 
followers, splitting into parties, declined from day to 
day, until the wiser part among them thought fit to 
modify their plan, and so gave birth to that community 
still existing under the title of independent or congre- 
gational brethren. Beside the illustrious ornaments of 



* The leaning features of the difference which subsisted between the Queen 
and her bishops on the one hand, aud the Puritans on the other, were — That 
the former claimed, for the civil magistrate, the right of making changes in the 
outward discipline of the church ; and the latter maintained that it belonged 
solely to the ministerial office. The queen's commissioners in the work of refor- 
mation, would have reference to be made as well to the ancient fathers as to 
the word of God, which the Puritans opposed. The former considered the 
Romish as a true church, and the pope a lawful bishop, which the latcer de- 
nied, and would have both of them cut off from communion with Christ's peo- 
ple. The Episcopalian* as we may term them, esteemed that form of govern- 
ment best, which had been framed in apostolic times, and was established in 
the fourth or fifth century of the church. The Presbyterians affirmed, that a 
complete form of ecclesiastical government was laid down in the scriptures, 
and was a pattern to which not even the slightest additions should be made. 
The former claimed for the civil power, the right of prescribing things in- 
different, and punishing a neglect of them, as an offence against the law ; the 
Puritans objected that this was an infringement of that liberty wherewith 
Christ hath made us free, and particularly called in question the ceremo- 
nies which had been retained by the Queen and parliament from among those 
auciently in use, as too directly leading to superstition. 

28* 



334 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

the see of Canterbury, Cranmer, Parker, Grindal, and 
Whitgift, there flourished in England during this centu- 
ry, Latimer bishop of Worster, Hooper of Gloucester, 
with Jewell of Salisbury, who wrote the well known 
apology, and composed most of the Homilies ; and 
among the Puritans, Whitaker.Rainold, Fox the martyr- 
ologist, and Cartwright. 



section vn. 

OF FANATICS, ENTHUSIASTS, AND HERETICS. 

It were an useless occupation, to trace the birth-place 
of the different societies of Anabaptists, some less 
and others more tinctured with errors of a various kind. 
The most pernicious portion of them, who pretended 
to be the founders of a new and perfect church, began 
their fanatical work in Saxony and the adjacent coun- 
tries, anno 1521, under Miinzer, Stiibner, Stork, and 
others. They employed at first the arts of persuasion $ 
but Miinzer, with his associates, declared war, in the 
year 1525, upon government and magistrates of every 
.kind, under the pretext* that Christ was now to reign 
and assume the character and office of governor upon 
earth. This seditious crowd was soon dissipated by 
the arms of the German princes ; but dispersing them- 
selves through Germany, those who escaped, denounced 
on the one hand, destruction to magistracy of all kinds, 
and insulted on the other, the majesty and glory of God 
by crimes done with the avowed purpose of rendering 



CENTURY SIXTEENTH. 335 

him homage.* The principal dogmas of the Anabap- 
tists were, that the church of Christ ought to be exempt 
from all sin — that a community of goods should exist 
among Christians — that all Christians were equally in- 
vested with the ministerial power — and that, on this ac- 
count, the church stood in no need, either of civil or ec- 
clesiastical rulers. The progress of this turbulent sect 3 
was restrained, throughout almost all Europe, by se- 
vere, though in most cases, necessary edicts, and some- 
times by capital punishments inflicted on them as ene- 
mies to the state.t From the critical condition to 
which their affairs were reduced, the Anabaptists wer© 
rescued by the prudent conduct of Menno Simon, a 
Frieslander by birth. In 1536, he was persuaded to 
undertake the office of a public teacher among them, 
and conducted matters with such prudence, that he was 
regarded by the Anabaptists as their common chief and 
head. He condemned the idea of a new ecclesiastical 
kingdom, to be established by Christ on the ruins of the 
civil government, and expressed his entire disapproba- 
tion of those who maintained, that the Holy Spirit 



* All the Anabaptists, however, were not of the same description. It may 
even be asserted that among the more moderate, were some whose simplicity 
and zeal for reforming the Church, led them to unite with the faction 

| A shocking example of the rebellious proceedings, on account of which 
many of the Anabaptists were put to death, was furnished at Munster, in the 
year 1533, and some succeeding ones by a body of madmen, who chose that city 
as the scene of their atrocious operations. They elected asking of the new 
state, which they denominated the kingdom of Christ, one John Bockhold, a tai- 
lor of Leyden ; and Kniperdoling and Cypenbroch, were appointed the chief 
magistrates. After a long siege, the city was re-taken in the year 1536, by its 
bishop and sovereign, count Waldeck, and the ringleaders of the faction 
suffered an exemplary punishment. 



oo6 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

illuminated many in the same manner as it did in the 
first ages of Christianity. But not even the authority 
and eloquence of Menno, was sufficient to preserve a 
perfect unity among the discordant materials with which 
he had to deal. A warm controversy was excited on 
the subject of excommunication, by Bowenson and Phi- 
lipps. These were for exercising against offenders, even 
penitents, the severest punishments, not only by an ex- 
clusion from the church, but even from domestic endear- 
ments. Hence the whole sect became split into Gross 
and Fine anabaptists, while the whole body of Meno- 
nites were at length divided into Germans, Frieslanders, 
Flamingians or Flandrians, and Waterlandians. The 
prudence and moderation of these last, have drawn 
into their number the greater part of the other sects. 
The opinions of the Menonites, which distinguish them 
from all other communities, are derived from the fun- 
damental principle, that the kingdom of Christ on earth 
is a most happy society, in which there is no place but 
for the holy, and is therefore exempt from those insti- 
tutions which human wisdom has invented for the pun- 
ishment of the wicked. This doctrine is now more 
cautiously expressed and explained than formerly, but 
out of it flow the exclusion from the right of baptism 
of all but adults, the prohibition of their members from 
holding civil offices, and their ideas respecting the ille- 
gality of punishments and oaths. Ecclesiastical autho- 
rity, which is supposed to reside in the people, is ad- 
ministered by elders. The right of teaching and 
administering the sacraments, is committed to persons 
approved of by the society. n To these, is subser- 



CENTURY SIXTEENTH. 337 

vieat the order of deaco ns. The Waterlandians are 
honorably distinguished from the rest, by the cultiva- 
tion of learning and a due attention to the arts and sci- 
ences. William, prince of Orange, in consequence of 
the pecuniary assistance they had rendered him, pro- 
cured for the Menonites their first settlement in the 
Netherlands, anno 1572. The Baptists of England, 
were derived from, and originally adopted the doctrine 
of the German and Dutch Anabaptists. They declined, 
however, in process of time, from the principles of 
their ancestors, and hold, in common with them, only 
the administration of baptism by immersion, and the 
refusal of that rite to any but adults. Their confession, 
drawn up in the following century, anno 1643, makes 
it evident, that they hold it lawful for a Christian, if the 
magistrate requires him, to take an oath, to engage in 
war, and to accept any civil office in the state. Their 
form of ecclesiastical government is presbyterian. The 
whole sect is divided into general or arminian, and par- 
ticular or calvinistic baptists. 

A name and origin was given to a remarkable sect, 
by David George, a native of Delft, who, on deserting 
the Anabaptists, established himself at Basil, and there 
died in the year 1556. The generosity and moral char- 
acter of the man, procured him, while living, both fol- 
lowers and reputation ; but on his death, the council 
of Basil had his body dug up, and his sentiments con- 
demned as blasphemous and profane. He was charged, 
by Nicholas Blesdyck, his son-in-law, with having called 
himself the third son of God, denied the existence of 
angels, of good and evil, of heaven and hell, and of a 



338 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

future judgment : and on this charge, which was prov- 
ed, was his memory condemned. But the temper of 
his disciples, of whom some still exist in Holstein, and 
other countries, renders it probable that in some par- 
ticulars, there may have been exaggeration. Scarcely 
had the reformation begun to gain ground among the 
nations of Europe, when Lewis Hetzer, an Anabap- 
tist, attacked, anno 1520, the divinity of our Lord. 
About the same period, Michael Servetus, a Span- 
iard of Villanova, published similar sentiments, and 
gave much more alarm to the friends of orthodoxy, 
than former innovators. In 1531 he began to impugn 
the generally received doctrines, concerning the divine 
nature, and the three persons in the godhead ; and 
afterwards proceeded to make the draught of a new 
and peculiar system of theology, which he clandestinely 
made public at Vienna, under the title of Christianity 
restored. His learning, his eloquence, his appearance 
of piety, and his numerous friends, seemed to counte- 
nance and give weight to his designs. But all his pros- 
pects and plans were finally blasted by Calvin, who 
ordered Servetus, as he was passing through Geneva, 
anno 1563, to be arraigned on the charge of blasphemy, 
and committed to the flames as an obstinate heretic. 
Whether the tenets of Servetus passed into other hands, 
cannot positively be affirmed, although his name was 
bestowed as an appellative upon many who in this cen- 
tury opposed the received doctrine of the Trinity. Va- 
lentine Gentilis, a Neapolitan, who suffered death at 
Berne, anno 1566, adopted the Arian hypothesis, that 
the Son and Holy Spirit were inferior to the Father. 



CENTURY SIXTEENTH. 339 

Gribaldi supposed the divine nature to be divided into 
three eternal spirits, distinguished by subordination, as 
well as number. The precise nature of the errors 
attributed to Alciat, Tellius, and others, is not known. 
Socinian writers refer the true origin of their religion 
to Italy, and the year 1546. At this period, they tell us, 
that forty men, distinguished for their love of erudition 
and truth, held secret assemblies in the territories of 
Venice, particularly at Vicenza, for the purpose of 
framing a new religious system. The principal persons 
concerned, were Loelius Socinus, Alciat, Ochinus, 
Paruta, and Gentilis. Two of them being apprehended 
and put to death, the rest became dispersed into Swit- 
zerland, Germany, and various other countries. Among 
these exiles, L. Socinus passed twice into Poland, in the 
years 1551 and 1558, and there sowed the seeds of that 
system which he and his friends had previously invented. 
That account however, of this sect, is more to be relied 
on, which traces its origin to certain of the Anabaptists 
and of those who, denying a trinity in unity, fled into Po- 
land and proclaimed sentiments in opposition to the com- 
monly received opinions. In the year 1565, they were 
ordered by the assembly held at Petricow, to withdraw 
themselves from those Swiss congregations among which 
they had hitherto mingled. These ancestors of the 
Socinians, are usually called Pinczovians, from the town 
in which the heads of the sect were wont to reside. 
The wisdom of their teachers, in time conciliated differ- 
ences which had arisen in the sect, and their affairs were 
brought into a very favorable train, both in Lithuania 
and Poland, from the time when John Sienienius., pala- 



340 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

tine of Padolia, gave them a settlement in the city of 
Racow. Thus established, these Unitarians edited a 
catechism or confession, at Cracow, anno 1574. The 
appellation of Socinians had not yet been given them, 
and they were generally known by the title of Anabap- 
tists. The dexterity and zeal of Faustus Socinus, the 
nephew of Loelius, gave a new aspect to the affairs of 
the Unitarians. On his first settlement among them in 
Poland, anno 1579, he met with much opposition and 
many difficulties. The force of his genius, the elegance 
of his manners, and the power of his eloquence, at 
length drew the whole body into an acquiescence with 
his measures and views. The different divisions united 
into one community, their doctrines were better digest- 
ed, and indeed re-modelled, and an exposition of 
them given in a new work, entitled the Catechism of 
Racow. In the year 1600, Sienno himself, the prince 
of that city, commonly called Cracow, joined their 
society, and founded a seminary for the education of 
their future pastors. By the labors of Blandrata and 
David, the baneful doctrines of the Socinians passed 
from Poland to Transylvania. By their books and 
their agents, many zealous individuals among them 
sought to instil their poison into other countries ; but 
neither in Dantzick, Holland, Britain, or Germany, 
where their attempts were directed, did they meet with 
any success. — Although the Socinians hold, that the 
utmost credit is due to the sacred volume in matters of 
fact, they deny that any thing is to be received as a 
divine truth, the entire reason of which the human un- 
derstanding cannot trrce. In conformity to this maxim. 



CENTURY SIXTEENTH. o4J 

maintain that God, by his power, effected the birth 
of an extraordinary personage, Jesus Christ, from the 
Virgin Mary ; that this man being taken up into heaven, 
was there imbued with a portion of the holy spirit, and 
restored again to earth, for the purpose of promulgating 
to mankind a new rule of life ; that all who obey this 
divine instructor (and all are capable of doing so if they 
will) shall, after death, enjoy everlasting happiness, 
while those who do not, shall, after terrible torments, 
be utterly annihilated.* Soon after their separation 
from the reformed churches in Poland, the Unitarians 
were split into factions. The most determined of these 
were the Budneans and Farnovians. The former, 
who derived their names from Simon Budnceus, denied 
any thing like worship to our Saviour, on the ground of 
his being born like other men. Their leader is said to 
have been excommunicated for his opinions, and in con- 
sequence to have changed them. Davides, the head of 
the Socinians in Transylvania, adopted the notions of 
Budnceus, and was on that account thrown into prison, 
where he died, anno 1579. He procured, however, 
many followers, who were branded by other Socinians 
with the title of semi-judaizers. The Farnovians, so 
called from Farnovius or Farnesius, w T ho maintained 
that Christ was begotten before the creation of the 
world, out of nothing, and who forbad any invocation 
of the Holy Spirit, were treated with more indulgence. 



* From their ideas respecting Christ as a teacher of morals, many of the an- 
cient Socinians fell into all the rigor of the Anabaptists, in refusing to tafce 
oaths, repel injuries, or inflict capital punishments. 

29 



342 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

This branch of the Socinians, which separated from the 
rest, anno 1568, found at first many friends, but were at 
length scattered abroad, and reduced to nothing. 



CENTURY SEVENTEENTH. 

SECTION I. 

GENERAL HISTORY OP THE CHURCH. 

The zeal of the Roman pontiffs to extend the limits 
of Christianity, were in this century placed upon a 
lasting foundation. Gregory XV. instituted, in the year 
1622, the famous congregation de propaganda fide. 
The object of this institution, is the propagation of the 
Romish religion in every part of the globe. The liber- 
ality of Urban VIII. and an incredible number of do* 
nors, has rendered it equal to the most magnificent un- 
dertakings. To this institution, and under its control^ 
was added by the same Urban, anno 1627? the seminary 
pro propaganda fide, in which youths of all nations 
might be educated and fitted, on returning to their own 
country, for preaching the gospel of peace. # It were 
needless to mention the numerous inferior foundations 
of a similar kind. From these, there went forth, in 
this century, a vast number of missionaries, who con- 
verted to Christianity, at least the profession of it, mul- 



* The first promoter of this useful scneme was John Viles, who for the 
purpose, presented the pope with hi3 ample possessions and magnificent man- 
sions. 



344 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

titudes of the rudest and most barbarous nations. The 
Jesuits, Dominicans, Franciscans, and Capuchins, were 
die principal agents in effecting these conversions ; but 
they load each other with mutual reproaches, on account 
of the means which were employed. The Jesuits, es- 
pecially, are accused, and with too much justice, of hav- 
ing instructed their converts in a corrupt system of moral- 
ity, of having permitted them to retain many profane su- 
perstitions, of having engaged in a rapacious commerce, 
and of having employed every means for their own 
aggrandizement. Of all the missions, none have equal- 
led in renown, and if we may believe the Jesuits, in 
beneficial results, that established at Madura by Robert 
de Nobili, one of their order. To effect his purpose 
with greater facility, this remarkable man feigned him- 
self to be a descendant of Brahma, and practised all the 
austerities of the Indian sanianes or penitents. His 
successors in the work still continued the deception 
with astonishing success, and steadily denied that they 
were Europeans or Praughis, as the Brachmans called 
them. The Portuguese missionaries carried the light 
of the gospel into the kingdom of Bengal — while the 
Jesuits, under the conduct of Alexander de Rhodes, 
were abundantly successful in Slam, Tonkin, and Co- 
chin China. After these transactions, Lewis XIV. of 
France, sent a splendid embassy to the king of Siam, 
anno 1684, accompanied with magnificent gifts. Many 
priests and Jesuits atiended the mission, and among 
them, several men well skilled in the arts and sciences. 
But the high expectations that now began to be enter- 



CENTURY SEVENTEENTH. 345 

tuiued, were blasted on the murder of the king of Siam 
and his prime minister, anno 1688. The various monk- 
ish orders, made an attempt, in this century, to carry 
into China the light of the gospel. Their prospects 
were varied, according to the temper of the reigning 
monarch. But when Chamchi mounted the throne, 
about the year 1669, the aspect of things was highly 
favorable to the Christian cause. The banished Je- 
suits were re-called, new teachers were brought from 
Europe, and the missionaries loaded with honors and 
wealth. The gospel acquired every where powerful 
patrons ; numerous converts were made ; and to crown 
the hopes of its friends, a rescript was issued, anno 1692, 
which gave permission to all the inhabitants of China 
to profess the doctrines of the Christian faith, and a 
church was assigned the Jesuits in the precinct% of the 
imperial palace. All the advantages derived to the 
Christian cause from the exertion of the Jesuits, did not 
screen them from accusations of the most serious kind* 
The principal charge against them was, the permission 
granted their converts in China to continue the profane 
customs and impure rites of their ancestors. [Matthew 
Ricci, who defended the cause of this order, against 
the Dominicans and Franciscans, maintained that the 
rites allowed of, were solely of a political and not of a 
religious character. The contest was at length brought, 
ann© 1645, before Innocent X, who condemned the 
license which had been permitted by the Jesuits. This 
sentence was virtually abrogated, anno 1656, by Alex- 
ander VII. and though the Dominicans renewed their 
29* 



; iO ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

complaints, the influence of the Jesuits yet prevailed 
By the zeal of the Jesuits, the light of the gospel had 
at the opening of the century been extended to Japan, 
but in the year 1615, the emperor of that country is- 
sued a terrible and unexpected edict against all who 
professed Christianity. The religion itself was de- 
clared inimical to the national interests ; all foreign 
Christians were ordered to depart the realm on pain oi 
death ; and the native converts were compelled to blas- 
pheme the name of Christ. To the credit of the Jesuits 
and other missionaries, let it be told, that in great num- 
bers, they suffered with resignation and holy triumph, 
the pains of martyrdom, in the cause of that religion 
which they had labored to teach. Whatever were the 
reasons for this terrible persecution, it appears that from 
this time, with the exception of a few Dutch factors, all 
Europeans, and every shadow of Christianity, are pe- 
remptorily forbidden an approach to the shores of 
Japan. 

Many pious individuals among the Protestants, were 
roused by the example of the Roman Catholics, to at- 
tempt the conversion of the heathen nations. In the 
vear 1647, the English parliament committed to approv- 
ed individuals, the propagation of the gospel in foreign 
parts ; but a civil war breaking out, suspended their 
operations. The society was re-established in the 
reign of Charles II. ; and in 1701, King William incor- 



* The whole dispute seems *o have rested on the two following points :- 
Whether by the words Titn and Changti, the Chinese understoodtbe visibN 
';eavens,or such a divinity as the Christians adore; and secondly, whether the 
■•■.-mora and 'rites paid to their dead ancestors and great lawgiver, Confuci 
wdre of a civil or religious nature. 



CENTURY SEVENTEENTH. 347 

porated the archbishops, bishops, and others of the 
nobility, gentry, and clergy, to the number of 90, into a 
society for the propagation of the gospel in foreign 
parts. Before the incorporation of this body, there 
had been a voluntary association formed in 1699? which 
still subsists under the denomination of the society for 
promoting Christian knowledge. The labors of the 
Dutch in the islands of Ceylon and Formosa, the coasts 
of Malabar, and other Asiatic settlements, and of the 
Romanists on the coast of Africa, converted multitudes 
of the natives from the impious rites of their ancestors. 
The continent of America had now been settled by vast 
bodies of emigrants from Spain, Portugal, and France, 
who too generally disgraced the religion they professed. 
The aboriginal inhabitants of the country, who had 
been conquered by the new settlers, were imbued with 
certain principles of Christianity by the Jesuits, Fran- 
ciscans, and other missionaries. But it was plainly per- 
ceived, and reported to the pope accordingly, that lit- 
tle hope could be entertained of the complete conver- 
sion of the Indians, until they had in some degree ac- 
quired civilized habits. These remarks apply princi- 
pally to the Southern division of America. It was in 
these provinces the Jesuits set themselves actively to 
build cities for the Indians, establish codes of laws, and 
appoint magistrates to administer them, having previ- 
ously instructed their subjects in some of the arts of 
civilized life. A proof of the extended views and vast 
designs of that order, was furnished in the empire they 
founded in Paraguay, and among the Abipones.* In 



: See Dobrishoffer's account of the Abipones, in Quart. Review. 



348 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

North America, where the British had established flour- 
ishing colonies, the knowledge of Christianity was con- 
veyed to the native Indians. Large numbers of inde- 
pendents, (as some of the separatists from the national 
church of England were called,) emigrating at first to 
Holland, and afterwards to the new world, with a view 
of enjoying more fully their own religious discipline, 
undertook to instil into the aborigines around them the 
religion they professed.* This first emigration was 
made in 1620. About nine years after, another body 
of the Puritans followed the fortunes of these religious 
adventurers ; but from the infant state of the colony, 
no great progress was made in the work of conversion. 
The aspect of affairs was, however, greatly improved, 
when, in 1632, the colony beginning to flourish, May- 
hew, Sheppard, and Elliot, exerted all their skill in 
extending to the Indians the glad tidings of salvation. 
The last of these individuals in particular, who in 1631, 
while yet a young man, had been appointed pastor of 
the church at Roxbury,in the colony of Massachusetts, 
prosecuted the work with such zeal, as to deserve and 
obtain the appellation of Apostle of the Indians. He 
translated into the principal of the Indian languages, the 
whole of the Bible, and formed the wandering savages 
into regular congregations. To assist in these labors, 
as well as supply the members of the church of Eng- 
land residing in the colonies, with a ministry which they 
could look upon as valid, the society for promoting 

* They landed at the present Plymouth, in Massachusetts-. 



CENTURY SEVENTEENTH. 349 

Christian knowledge, sent out able, godly and well ap- 
pointed missionaries, who executed their commission to 
the satisfaction of all except the Puritans, who were 
jealous of an interference, as they termed it, with ground 
already occupied by themselves. 

The numerous productions in defence of Christiani- 
ty, and especially the famous Lectures founded by Ro- 
bert Boyle,* would seem to warrant the complaint that 
vice and infidelity had begun to gain ground in Eng- 
land, from the age of Charles IT. The leader of the 
atheistic tribe in that country, was Thomas Hobbes, 
of Malmsbury, who, in a book called Leviathan, evi- 
dently aimed at the destruction of all religion, natural 
and revealed, but who is said, in his old age, to have 
returned to a better mind. John Wilmot, earl of 
Rochester, a celebrated wit of the court of Charles II. 
after a life spent in trampling upon the truths of religion, 
and the obligations of morality, returned, in his latter 
3'ears, to a belief in the gospel. To the list of infidels, 
we must add the name of Anthony Ashley Cooper, 
earl of Shaftsbury, who impugned, in his Characteris- 
tics, the truths of Christianity, as unable to stand the 
test of ridicule. In the Amyntor and other writings of 
John Toland, a native of Ireland, the reader will dis- 
cover to what length a little learning, an uncontrolled 
vanity, and an unprincipled disposition, may carry an 



* This illustrious ornament of letters and religion, bequeathed a -onsidera- 
ble part of his fortune to be distributed successively to a number of learned 
divines, who were to preach, in their turns, eight sermons every year in de» 
fence of natural and revealed religion. 



o50 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

ambitious man. This enumeration of those infidel 
writers of Great Britain, may well be closed with the 
names of Charles Blount, who wrote the Oracles of 
Reason,and of Lord Herbert, of Cherbury, who, in his 
book, de Veritate, would have us substitute instead of 
the gospel, five principles, as he terms them, of natural 
religion.* In Franco, Julius Caesar Vanini, author of 
the Amphitheatre r,f Providence and Dialogues con- 
cerning nature, fell a victim to persecution rather than 
to strict justice, and was burnt as an atheist, at Thou- 
louse, anno 1629- Casimir Lezynsky, was capitally 
punished on the same account, at Warsaw, about sixty 
years after. The most subtle and eminent atheist of 
this century, was Benedict Spinoza, by birth a Jew, 
who died at the Hague, anno 1677. This remarkable 
man, who had once embraced Christianity, maintained 
openly in his writings, that the Universe was the Deity, 
that all things therefore happen by an immutable ne- 
cessity, and that every man was a part of this universal 
deity. His warmest admirers confess that his system 
is with difficulty understood. His followers were call- 
ed Pantheists. The principal of them were Muir a 
physician, and Count Boulainvilliers. 

A new and noble turn, in the midst of the progress ' 
which all species of knowledge had been making in this 
age, was given to philosophy, by the amazing and solid 
genius of Francis Bacon, Lord Verulam. The sciences 
of mathematics, astronomy, and physics, were now 



* Notwithstanding his d«nial of any necessity for a divine revelation, he 
tells us that his*o>vn book received a miraculous approval from on high 



CENTURY SEVENTEENTH. 351 

carried to an exceedingly high degree of perfection. 
At the head of these, in point of time, appears Gallileo, 
the ornament of Italy. After him, arose in France, 
the renowned Descartes and Gassendi ; in Denmark, 
Tycho Brahe ; in England. Boyle and Newton ; in 
Germany, Kepler and Hevelins ; and in Switzerland, 
the two Bernoullis. The languages, Church history, 
and the subject of morals, were pursued with great suc- 
cess. At the opening of this century, philosophers 
were divided into the peripatetics, and chemists or rose- 
crucians* The controversy between these two parties 
was put to rest by the overwhelming interest taken in 
the opinions of Descartes, a French philosopher. The 
notions of this acute and profound metaphysician were 
disapproved by the peripatetics, seconded by the cler- 
gy, who apprehended, and with reason, an injury from 
these new opinions to the cause of religion. At the 
head of his adversaries, was his countryman Gassendi, 
his superior in knowledge, and equal in genius, and who 
had before him attacked the Aristotelian philosophy .f 
Between these two illustrious ornaments of science, 
arose a vehement dispute ; and from this period may 
be dated the division of the philosophic world, into 
what may be called the metaphysical and mathematical*. 



* From ro* (dew) the most powerful dissolvent of gold, and a certain figure 
containing the word lux, or light, which is, say these philosopher?, the produce 
of gold. 

f Gassendi numbers among his allies Whichcot, Gale, Cudworth, and 
More, who endeavored to prove that the sentiments of Gassendi and Plato r 
were nearly allied. 

t They who were followers of Descartes. 



352 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

sects. The former system was followed, enlarged and 
improved, by Malbranch and Leibnitz. Although the 
friends of the latter were not so numerous as of the 
other, among them are enrolled the English names (for 
in Britain it found its warmest admirers,) of Barrow. 
Willis, Locke, Boyle, and the immortal Newton, all of 
whom were at the same time lights in philosophy and 
the firmest friends of revealed religion.* 



SECTION II. 



HISTORY OF THE ROMISH CHURCH. 

In the character of those who filled the papal chair 
luring this century, (with the exception perhaps of 
Clement XL) there is little deserving of commendation 
or record. Various were the stratagems and projects 
employed by the Romanists for oppressing the Protes- 
tants, and redeeming the loss they had sustained by 
the reformation. The first flames of a religious war 
broke out in the Austrian territory, where the friends 
of the reformation were grievously persecuted. The 
Bohemians, in consequence, resolved to take up arms 
for the preservation of their religious liberty. On the 



* The disputes carried on between the respective favorers of Descartes arc 
Gassendi,gave rise to an order of men who revived in a measure the uncom- 
fortable doctrine that truth is unattainable by man; and among these are t< 
•>e reckoned De La Moshe, Huet : bishop of Avianches, and the celebrated 
Bayle. 



CENTURY SEVENTEENTH. 

death of the emperor Matthias, anno l6l9> they chose 
a king of their own, in the person of Frederick V. elector 
palatine ; but they were defeated before Prague, the 
year after, by the imperial army, and finally compelled 
to receive the faith of the victors. After this signal 
success, the emperor carried his arms through a great 
part of Germany. In 1629, he promulgated that terri- 
ble edict of restitution, by which the Protestants w r ere 
ordered to restore to the Romish church certain pos- 
sessions they had acquired. A warlike and fierce 
soldiery gave w r eight to this command, and Germany 
trembled for her civil and religious liberty, when Gus- 
tavus Adolphus, the gallant king of Sweden, stept m 
to her assistance. This heroic prince, however, perish- 
ed before his work was completed, though in the arms 
of victory, at the battle of Lutzen, in the year 1632, 
After a war of thirty years, the peace of Westphalia 
at last restored quiet to the harrassed powers of Europe. 
The pacification of Augsburgh, was in the first place 
secured, — the edict of restitution was rescinded, — and 
both the contending parties were placed upon the same 
footing on which they had stood in 1624.* Still, how- 
ever, the Protestants in Hungary and Poland, the Hu- 
guenots of France, the remains of the Waldenses in the 
vallies of Piedmont, and indeed all the parts of Ger- 
many, subject to princes of the Romish faith, felt the iron 
yoke of religious bondage, t Every exertion was made 

* The articles of the treaty were ratified at Nuremburgh, anno 1650. 

f In Spain, the priestly order effected the expulsion of the Morescoes, or 
descendants of the ancient Moors, suspected of attachment to the Mahometaa 
frith. 

30 



354 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

to re-establish in England, the religion and worship 
of Rome. At the beginning of the century, a horrible, 
but frustrated attempt was made by some infamous in- 
dividuals, (among whom was the Jesuit Garnet,) to 
blow up king James I. and all his parliament, with gun- 
powder placed under the building in which they sat. 
The rupture between Charles I. who succeeded James, 
the subsequent murder of that unfortunate monarch; 
and the puritanic tyranny of the regicide Cromwell, 
blasted for a time all the hopes of the English Roman 
Catholics. Upon the recall of Charles II. to the 
throne of his father, these hopes were again revived, 
and in the reign of his brother James II. who embraced 
the Romish faith, appeared to be on the eve of com- 
pletion. Once more they were frustrated, and to hu- 
man view for ever, by the expulsion of the Second 
James from the throne. William, prince of Orange, 
who in right of his wife Anne, a daughter of the de- 
throned monarch, took the crown, though tolerant in 
h s principles, proved a zealous defender of the protes- 
tant cause. From that period to the present, the crown 
has remained as it was settled by him in a Protestant line. 
When the weapons of war and violence were found by 
the friends ofRome to have entirely failed, they resort- 
ed to the milder arts of persuasion and argument. The 
main reason urged by those who desired a reconcilia- 
tion between the two churches, was based upon the lit- 
tle essential difference which they affirmed existed be- 
tween the Romish and Protestant doctrines. This idea 
was greatly encouraged and promoted, by cardinal 
Richelieu, the able and politic minister of Franco. His 



CENTURY SEVENTEENTH. 355 

views were seconded by Bossuet, the bishop of Mieux, 
in his celebrated exposition of the Catholic faith, where 
he endeavors to shew, that a proper understanding of 
the principles of his church, abstracted from its abuses, 
would induce Protestants to return again into its bosom. 
In 1686, Christopher de Rohas, bishop of Tinia, in 
Bosnia, visited, under a public commission, the courts 
of the principal protestant princes in Germany, and in- 
timated that all the privileges and rights claimed by 
the reformed churches, might be ceded or compromised, 
on condition of their again submitting to the ecclesias- 
tical dominion of the common parent of all Christians. 
But his promises were disregarded, his designs were 
suspected, and at length proved in vain. There were 
not a few however, of the Protestants themselves, who 
joined the Romish church in the prosecution of this 
its pacific scheme. In the Netherlands, Hugo- Gro- 
tius expressed the warmest desire for a general re-union 
of all the christian churches, and softened many of the 
obnoxious tenets of the Romish faith. The fruits of 
these efforts were by no means abundant. But among 
the principal converts made from the cause of the refor- 
mation, were Christina, queen of Sweden, Wolfgang 
William count palatine of the Rhine, William marquis 
of Brandenburgh, Earnest prince of Hesse, John Fred- 
eric duke of Brunswick, and Frederick Augustus king 
of Poland. To this list of princes might be added ano- 
ther, though not large, of learned and scientific men. 
From political motives, the Abyssinians had embraced 
the rites of the Romish church ; but the imprudent 
conduct of the new patriarch Mendez, gave general 



J 56 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

offence. In 1631, a public edict permitted the inhabi- 
tants of Abyssinia to adopt whatever mode of worship 
they pleased, and three years after, the emperor Basi- 
Hdes expelled Mendez and all his associates from the 
kingdom. From that time till the present, no persua- 
sions, not even those of Lewis XIV. of France, have 
been able to restore the missionaries of Rome to their 
former footing. 

The day of power with the Roman pontiffs had pass- 
ed away. In 1606, Paul V. laid the Venetians under 
an interdict. The senate of that people received the 
sentence with dignity, forbad their clergy to suspend 
their functions, and directed Paul Sarpi to inquire into 
the limits of papal jurisdiction ; nor could they be per- 
suaded to rescind the edicts they had issued against the 
court of Rome, or, till many years, to recal the banish- 
ed Jesuits. During the whole of this century, as in 
many preceding ones, the Roman pontiffs had been 
cautiously but constantly endeavoring to gain upon the 
liberties of the Gallican church. Their aims, however* 
with that of the Jesuits, had been defeated by the deci- 
sive character of the parliament of Paris, and by the 
able pens of a Launoig, a Peter de Marca, a Dupin, 
and an Alexander. The first contest which arose be- 
tween the popes and the French monarch Lewis XIV. 
was in consequence of an insult offered to the ambas- 
sador of the latter. This was soon followed by another, 
in which Lewis was threatened by Innocent XL with 
the vengeance of the church in this world and the next, 
for asserting his right to hold the temporalities of all 
sees till the election of a new bishop to supply the 



CENTURY SEVENTEENTH. 357 

place of the last deposed. The king assembled, anno 
1632, a celebrated council of bishops at Paris. In this 
assembly, the ancient doctrines of the Gallican church, 
concerning the power of the pope, were comprised in four 
propositions, solemnly adopted, and proposed to the 
whole clerical order as a rule of conduct and faith. The 
death of Innocent, and the greater mildness of his succes- 
sors, gave an amicable termination to these troublesome 
controversies. 

The state of the Romish clergy still continued greatly 
corrupt. Some honorable exceptions were indeed to be 
found ; but their influence could effect but little towards 
a general reformation. Among the monastic orders, 
there appeared some desire to restore the discipline of 
their founders, In this laudable attempt, the lead was 
taken by certain Benedictine congregations, and espe- 
cially that of St. Maur, which was founded in the year 
1621. The most useful feature of this society, is the 
care which is taken to set apart a certain number of its 
members to the cultivation of divine and human learning, 
particularly the branches of history and antiquities. Of 
the new orders created in this century, the most remark- 
able was that of the fathers of the oratory of Holy 
Jesus, instituted by John Berulli, anno 1613, and which 
has produced many men of eloquence and erudition. 
To this order we may join, as worthy of commendation, 
the priests of the missions, founded nineteen years after 
the former, by Vincent de Paul, and the order of Reform- 
ed Benedictines of La Trappe, instituted in the year 
1664, by Armand de Ranee. The order of Jesuits was 

overwhelmed with abuse and contumelv, by innumerable 

30* 



358 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

adversaries of almost every class, and especially by the 
Jansenists, who endeavored to hold them up to the world 
as objects of scorn and detestation. There is indeed, too 
much reason to believe, that the morality of the Jesuits 
was of very loose consistency.* In a word, pope Alex- 
ander VII. found it necessary to condemn a part of their 
moral maxims, in an edict which he published, anno 
1659. 

Of those who attempted the interpretation of the sa 
cred volume, scarce any deserve to be specifically remem- 
bered except Pasquin, and Quesnel a priest of the orato- 
ry, whose edition of the New Testament, with notes and 
observations, if they be not unexceptionable, acquired 
their author a great renown. The most important of 
those dissensions which agitated the Church of Rome, 
and indeed the christian world, during this century, w r as 
that concerning the nature of divine grace, the determi- 
nation of which had been committed by Clement VIII. 
to some chosen divines. At first the cause of Molina 
and the Jesuits seemed to be disapproved, as tending to 
pelagianism ; but the sentence against them, was sus- 
pended for three years, and at the end of that period. 
Clement died on the fourth of March, anno 1605. Polic\ 
forbad his successor Paul V. to make a final decision, 
and both parties were left to enjoy their own opinions. 
The flame which was thus covered, was again kindled by 



* Their doctrines, respecting the safety of a 6inner who has a probabit 
reason for transgression, concerning a -well directed intention, of philosophi- 
cal sin, and mental reservation, are too well known to need an elaborate dis 
cussIor. 



CENTURY SEVENTEENTH. 359 

Cornelius Jansen, bishop of Yepres, in apostumous pub- 
lication, entitled Augustinus. In this work he explained 
and illustrated the doctrine of St. Austin, concerning 
divine grace. The authority of the African saint, oppo- 
sed as it was to the notions of the Jesuits, weighed little 
with that order. They not only answered the book of 
Jansen, but procured its public condemnation by Urban 
VIII. The controversy extended itself from the Nether- 
lands into France, where the illustrious names of the Port 
Royal authors, Arnald, Nicolle, Paschal, and Quesnel, 
were enrolled on the side of the Jansenists. Innocent X. 
anno 1653, by a public edict, condemned five proposi- 
tions taken by its adversaries from the work of Jansenius, 
This decision was confirmed by Alexander VII. who like- 
wise declared that these propositions were to be found in 
that book, in the same sense in which they were condemn- 
ed, and issued a formula to that effect, which he ordered to 
be subscribed by all who desired promotion in the church. 
This imprudent conduct excited the warmest conten- 
tions. One part of the Jansenists denied the papal in- 
fallibility in matters of fact ; another professed themselves 
ready to subscribe the form, but with certain reservations, 
while a third party maintained a profound but respectful 
silence. The peace, as it was called, which the lenity 
or prudence of Clement IX. afforded the Jansenists, anno 
1669, by allowing them to subscribe the formula with 
mental reservations, was violated at the instigation of 
Lewis XIV. ; and in 1679, it was totally abolished. 
From this period the Jansenists were persecuted with 
much severity ; many of them fled from France into the 
Netherlands, and drew over to their cause a great part 



3C0 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

of the Romish church in that country. The severe mo- 
ral discipline of the Jansenists, was more offensive to the 
Jesuits than even their doctrines. The former cried 
aloud against the general corruption of the clergy, main- 
tained the propriety of giving the public liturgies and 
scriptures to the people in their native tongue, and the 
superiority of heart-felt to any external devotion. To 
these commendable truths they added many things and 
consequences of a fanatical character. Their doctrine 
concerning penance, justly entailed upon them the ap- 
pellation of rigorists.* The ancient disputes between 
the Dominican and Franciscan orders, concerning the 
immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary, gave no small 
degree of disturbance to the popes Paul V. Gregory XV. 
and Alexander VII. ; but the entreaties of the kin^s of 
Spain, Philip J J I . and IV. could not obtain from either a 
final determination. Great injury was done towards 
the close of this century to the cause of the mystics, by 
Michael de Molinos,| a Spanish priest, who, in a work 
which he published, anno 1681, seemed to renew many 
capital errors of the Beghards. This founder of the sect 
of Quietests, placed the essence of piety in a silent con- 
templation of the Deity, and a sincere desire to promote 
his glory without any hope of reward. He was finally 



* In the female convent belonging to them of Port Royal in the fields, 
one might see to what excesses the fanatical spirit of their discipline was 
carried. To this retreat of sacred virgins and to its neighborhood, resorted mul- 
titudes of those who by voluntary punishments, by hunger, by silence, by 
labor and tears, sought to appease the wrftth of God for former transgres- 
sions. This retreat of Jansenist penitents, was destroyed by Lewis XIV 
anno 1709. 

t To be distinguished from the Jesuit Molina. 



CENTURY SEVENTEENTH. 36l 

thrown into prison where he died in the year 1696. The 
unhappy fate of Molinos, did not prevent many of the 
learned from adopting his sentiments. His discipline 
was propagated in France, by madame Guyon, a woman 
of fashion, of great goodness of heart, but of an unsettled 
disposition. The opinions of this lady were warmly repre- 
hended by the celebrated Bossuet, and as ably defended 
by the no less renowned Fenelon, archbishop of Cambray. 
This latter prelate wrote a particular defence of Madame 
Guyon, and especially of the tenet which teaches that the 
love of the Supreme being must be pure and without any 
hope of reward. Bossuet at last procured from Innocent 
XII. the condemnation of Fenelon's work, which that 
amiable man, as a proof of his obedience to the censures 
of the church, denounced from his own pulpit, though 
he still retained its sentiments to the end of his days. 
Among the minor disputes which disturbed the church of 
Rome, was one raised by Isaac Peyrere, who, in 1665, 
wrote a volume to prove that the account given by Moses 
referred only to the Jewish people, not to the human fa- 
mily, and that long before Adam there existed whole na- 
tions of human beings. He recanted before he died, 
and though originally a Protestant, breathed his last, in 
communion with the church of Rome. The other sub- 
jects of dispute, which were raised by Thomas White, 
Francis Burrhi, and cardinal Sfondrati, scarcely deserve a 
specific mention. Hardly any change took place in the 
Romish ritual during the course of this century, but seve- 
ral persons were thought worthy of a place in the saintly 
calendar.* 

* An edict wa3 passed in 1643, by Urban VIII. to diminish the number of 
holidays* 



362 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

SECTION III. 

HISTORY OP THE GREEK AND ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 

From the imperfect intelligence which is furnished 
us of the present state of the Greek church, we are yet 
able to learn her invincible repugnance to a re-union 
with the Latin. Urban VIII strained every effort to 
effect a reconciliation between the churches, and nu- 
merous books were written to =>hew that in any impor- 
tant doctrine, there was no difference whatever, These 
attempts of the Roman pontiff, were strenuously oppo- 
sed by Cyril Lucar, patriarch of Constantinople, who 
openly avowed himself much more favorably disposed 
to the doctrine and mode of worship in the English 
church than the Latin, and declared his design of re- 
forming the Greek ritual. The malice of this prelate's 
enemies procured his condemnation and death, anno 
1638, on a charge of treason against the emperor. His 
successor, Gyril of Beroe, was more favorable to the 
Romish cause, but the hopes derived from this circum- 
stance, were soon blasted by his unhappy death ; nor 
from this period has any occasion offered itself of recon- 
ciling the two churches. It is indeed asserted that emissa- 
ries of the Roman pontiff, particularly the Jesuits, have 
found means to corrupt the doctrine of the Greeks. A 
change in their opinions, on the subject of transub- 
stantiation, is said to have been effected at the synod of 
Jerusalem, assembled by Dosotheus the patriarch, in 



CENTURY SEVENTEENTH. 363 

the year 1672 ; but though many disputes have arisen 
on the point, there is certainly evidence, that so early 
as the council of Florence, held in the fifteenth century, 
the Greeks generally entertained the doctrine of the 
real presence in the eucharist. In the independent 
Greek church of Russia, there arose in the year 1666, 
a sect called Isbraniki, or the elect, who affected an air 
of extraordinary piety, and charged the Russian clergy 
with having greatly corrupted Christianity. In the 
course of this century, a reformation of the Russian 
church was set on foot by Peter the great. This prince 
endeavored in the first place to have its doctrines ex- 
plained according to the dictates of right reason, and 
the spirit of the gospel, and for this purpose sought, by 
the encouragement given to men of learning and genius, 
to dispel the ignorance of the clergy and stupidity of 
the people. He granted the privilege of worshipping 
God in their own way, to all denominations ; but, at 
the same time, laid restraints upon any attempts of the 
Jesuits to extend the jurisdiction of the Roman pontiff 
beyond the limits of their own chapels. He also sup- 
pressed the splendid dignity of patriarch, assumed to 
himself the title of supreme head of the Russian 
church, and committed the direction of ecclesiastical 
affairs to a holy synod assembled at Petersbergh, over 
which presides the most distinguished of the archbish- 
ops. 

A branch of the Monophysites residing in Asia, 
joined themselves for a time to the Romish communion, 
but soon dwindled into nothing. The African Monophy- 
>ites or Copts, firmly resisted the efforts which were 



3 64 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

made to unite them with Rome. Peter Heylig, of Lu- 
bee, went into Abyssinia, anno 1634, and in the station 
of prime minister gave many instances of zeal for reli 
gion and the public good. Prince Ernest, of Saxe 
Gotha,sent a missionary to that same country, in a sub- 
sequent year ; but he perished at sea, and his unworthy 
successor in that office, returned, in the year .1657, to 
embrace the Romish faith, and enter the Dominican 
order. 

That part of Armenia contiguous to Persia, be- 
ing in this century laid waste by Abbas the great, a 
numerous body of the Christian Armenians were order- 
ed by that prince to emigrate to his dominions. The 
more wealthy settled at Ispahan, and established them- 
selves under a patriarch. On the death of the gener- 
ous Abbas, they were cruelly treated, and numbers of 
them embraced the Mahometan faith ; but their unhap- 
py condition was considerably relieved by those of their 
countrymen who had settled in Europe, and who trans- 
mitted from the English and Dutch presses translations 
of the holy scriptures and other theological works. The 
controversies which had split the church of the Nesto- 
rians into three different parties, could in no way be set- 
tled. EliasII. and III. the bishops of Mossul, express- 
ed by letter, their willingness to unite themselves to 
the church of Rome, on condition of being allowed a 
place in that city where they might worship God in 
their own way ; but it does not appear that such a con- 
dition could satisfy the Roman pontiff. The Nestorian 
bishops of Rome, expressed more than once, a similar 
inclination, but their overtures were not regarded as 



CENTURY SEVENTEENTH. 365 

deserving much attention. Neither the artifices nor 
violence of the Romish priests and Jesuits, could pre- 
vail on the Christians of St. Thomas, who inhabited the 
coast of Malabar, to put themselves under the jurisdic- 
tion of the Roman pontiff, When Cochin was taken 
in 1663, by the Dutch, these persecuted Nestorians 
were once more restored to the full enjoyment of their 
privileges and freedom. 



SECTION IV. 

HISTORY OP THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

The Lutheran church sustained, in the present cen* 
fury, the loss of several valuable allies. Maurice Lan- 
g-rave, of Hesse, began in the year 1604 to dismiss the 
Lutheran divines from their stations, introduced into 
the Hessian churches the Geneva form of worship, and 
ordered his deputies to the synod of Dort, to give their 
assent to the acts of that assembly. This example was 
followed, anno 1614, by Sigismund, elector of Bran- 
denburgh, who adopted the opinions entertained at Ge- 
neva respecting the body of our Lord and its presence 
inthe eucharist, though he rejected the doctrine of the 
divine decrees. This prince afterwards granted is 
subjects the freedom of embracing either mode of be- 
lief and discipline. This lenity was by no means uni- 
versally approved, and the rash and reprehensible con- 
duct of the Lutherans, especially those of Wittemberg, 

occasioned the Form of Concord to be repressed alto- 
31 



366 EGCLESIASTKUL BlSTOBt. 

gether, and students in divinity Mere prohibited resort- 
ing to the Saxon University. Various attempts were 
made by several Reformed churches to effect a reconci- 
liation with the Lutheran divines ; but the jealousy and 
unjust suspicions of the latter, prevented their success.* 
Among the most prominent of the private individuals, 
who enlisted in the design of uniting the churches, was 
John Dureus, a Scotchman, of the Calvinistic school. 
With the most persevering zeal, and amidst innumera- 
ble difficulties and hardships, he prosecuted his purpose 
in most of the European courts, for three and forty 
years. Many approved of, but few seconded his ef- 
forts, so that, worn out with mortifications, and perceiv- 
ing the hopelessness of final success, he retired to 
Cassel, and there ended his days. The same purpose 
was prosecuted by John Matthiae, a Lutheran bishop of 
Sweden, and George Calixtus, a professor of divinity at 
Helmstadt. 

Some of the faults which disfigured the Lutheran 
church, are, in a great degree, attributable to the con- 
dition of the times ; and that sharpness of invective to 
which the controversialists of the period too much 
gave way, may almost be forgiven in consideration of the 
exigencies which called it forth. The face of the church 
would at this day have been different from what it is, had 
the Lutheran princes listened to the advice of those men, 
who proposed an emendation of the ecclesiastical law. 



* At the synod of Chareuton, aiiDol631, the Lutherans were declared, by 
the Refomed church in France, to be free fren aay pernici'nis errors, either 
la doctrine or mode of worsiip. 



CBSTUBY SEVENTEENTH. 3(5/ 

They would have placed the foundation of that law, 
in the will of the prince. Many of the institutes and 
rules of the Lutheran church, they contended, were but 
the remains of Romish superstition. Hence ample ma* 
terials were furnished for the most pernicious disputes 
between the lawyers and divines, to which was added a 
licentious liberty of thinking, that boded a diminu- 
tion of authority to the symbolical books. 

The zeal for promoting literature, was far from being 
on the wane. Posterity will long remember the la- 
bors of Tamovius, Gerhard, Kackspan, and Erasmus 
Schmidt, as interpreters of the sacred volume ; and 
the Sacred Phylology of Solomon Glass is familiar to 
every student in divinity. Many good and pious men ? 
were anxious to see the subject of theology, which, in 
the hands of George Calixtus, had assumed a philoso- 
phical shape, treated in a manner more popular, more 
simple, and more free from learned niceties. Their 
wishes were, in some degree, as we shall find in the 
next century, fulfilled, in the efforts and writings of 
Philip Spener. 

The whole Lutheran Church was in this century agi- 
tated by various controversies, in particular by two of 
considerable importance ; one of which was known as 
the Syncretistic, Helmstaaian, and Calixtine ; the other 
as the Pietistic and Halieusian controversy. George Ca- 
lixtus, a native of Sleswick, shewed himself exceeding- 
ly desirous of removing various grounds and subjects 
of hatred and mutual dislike. His colleagues were not 
opposed to the furtherance of his designs, which is less to 
be wondered at ? since all teachers of theology in the 



o6$ ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

Julian academy, are bound by their oath to use their" 
best endeavors for quieting the disputes which arise 
among Christians. Statius Buscher, a clergyman of 
Hanover, first attacked, in the year l639 ? the principles 
and projects of these individuals. But the warmth of 
his attacks were not sufficient to terrify the spirit of 
Calixtus, who, in a public conference at Thorn, anno 
1645, gave evidence of a pacific spirit and a concilia- 
ting temper towards all the Protestant churches. Upon 
this, he was charged with errors of the utmost magni- 
tude, and in the midst of those charges, he was ceilled 
to another world, anno 1656. The great and prominent 
crime imputed to Calixtus, was the desire he expressed of 
uniting together, under certain general terms, the large 
bodies of Christians who composed the Romish and 
Protestant churches.* This scheme was distinguished 
by the title of Syncretism. The foundations of it 
were, in the first place, that both among the Romanists 
and Protestants, the fundamentals of Christianity were 
fully preserved, and were contained in the apostles' 
creed ; and secondly, that whatever was supported by 
the constant testimony of the ancient Christian writers 
of the first five centuries, should be received as the 
subject of belief. The discussions which grew out of 
this effort to reconcile the jarring churches, were fol- 
lowed by various controversies, and especially by that 
of the Pietists, which, though begun at the close of this 
century, more properly belongs to the consideration of 
the next. There were, indeed, a class of these pietist- 

* Including, of course; only those vr ho are usually termed orthodox. 



CENTURY SEVENTEENTH. 3Q9 

who extended their views beyond the limits of propri- 
ety. Among these, Godfrey Arnold, a man of gloomy 
disposition, and a native of Saxony, procured for him- 
self both obliquy and fame, not only by the reproaches 
he cast upon the clergy as corrupters of the gospel, but 
also by maintaining that religion consisted solely in a 
certain state of internal excitement, and in the vivid 
operations of the spiritual man,* The mild and gentle 
temper of .William Petersen, may rescue him from the 
stigma of being an hot-headed enthusiast ; but his want 
of judgment and resolution, made him easily to be 
led into the errors of others. In l691 ? he listened to and 
believed the follies of the countess Rosamonda Juliana, 
who pretended she had received a divine illumination. 
At the same time he revived the exploded notion of a 
millennial reign of our Lord upon earth, united with 
his wife in preaching a universal restoration, and main- 
tained that Christ was endowed with two human na- 
tures, the one assumed in heaven, and the other deri- 
ved on earth from the virgin mother. John Christian 
Schade, a minister of Berlin, inveighed with bitterness 
against the practice of private confession to the clergy, 
and others also were found who attacked several notions 
which appeared to be but relics of Romish superstition. 
Among the controversies of less note we may distinguish 
that which was carried on between the divines of Tu- 
bingen and Giessen. The dispute related to what was 
termed the exinaniiion of Christ ; and the great ques- 



* At the close of life he is saiti to have xaeditied, in a great degree, 'his 
jBystrcal nations, and to have become a pattern of Christian moderation. 
.31* 



370 ECCLESIASTICAL HlS'TORV. 

tion was, whether our Lord, in his mediatorial sufferings 
and sacerdotal state, suspended the exertion of his at- 
tributes, or only concealed them from mortal view. 
This point of discussion was followed by many others. 
But before this controversy ceased, a new one had 
arisen, anno 1621, in consequence of the writings of 
Herman Rathman, a divine of Dantzic, who maintained 
that the divine oracles cannot illuminate or amend 
the hearts of mankind, unless a certain energy of the 
holy spirit purge the mind, and fit it for the reception 
of the voice of God. At the height of the controversy, 
anno 1628, its author paid the debt of nature, and the 
warmth and animosity of the contending parties subsided 
gradually, and at length ceased. The piety of Stephen 
Praetorius, and John Arnd,* could not save them from 
the reproach of mysticism, and a desire to be righteous 
over much. It is needless to enumerate their defenders 
on the one hand, or their enemies on the other. Nor 
do our limits permit more than a brief sketch of certain 
men of warm imaginations, who attempted to cast a 
model of piety after their own wanton or irregular fan- 
cies. At the head of these was Jacob Boemen, a tailor 
of Gorlitz, who is known among his admirers as the 
German Theosophist. Imbued with the principles of 
Fludd and the Rosicrucians, Boemen invented a spe- 
cies of fire-theology, more abstruse than the numbers of 
Pythagoras, or the intricacies of Heraclitus. He ob- 
tained, however, many followers of his own time ; and 



Arnd wrote the celebrated book coicerning True Christianity. 



CENTURY SEVENTEENTH. 37 I 

not a few of the present age find much to approve of in 
his writings, and commend in his piety. To close the 
history of those enthusiastic individuals who agitated, 
in this century, the Lutheran church, we shall barely 
mention that there arose not a few who pretended to 
divine inspiration and the power of foretelling future 
events. Among them we may enumerate the names of 
Drabic, Christina Poniatovia, Anna Vetteria, and Paul 
Xagel, the last of whom pretended to a perfect know- 
lege of astrology, and from the state of the heavenly 
bodies foretold the erection of a new kingdom of 
Christ upon earth. Seidenbecher maintained and pro- 
pagated the notion of a millennium ; and Martin Seidel. 
exceeding in impudence and folly all who had gone be- 
fore him, denied that the promised Messiah had yet or 
would ever come, attributed to Jesus merely a revival 
of the law of nature, and boldly rejected all the books 
of the ?\ew Testament. 



SECTION V. 

HISTORY OP THE REFORMED CHURCH. 

The progress of this church, in the light we have 
viewed it, was greatly extended in various parts of Asia, 
America, and even Africa. But prosperity is seldom 
known to exist, without some intermixture of suffering ; 
and the Reformed church in France, experienced, in this 
century, the severest calamities which a despotic court 
could inflict. These calamities fell alike upon the peo- 



372 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

pie and nobility who embraced the Reform ed religion. 
The disorders which preceded them, and for which in- 
deed it must be allowed that the Protestants were in 
no small degree censurable, had existed in the reign of 
Lewis XIII. It was then the design was formed of 
suppressing the Protestant faith throughout the whole 
kingdom of France. 

The severities of Cardinal Richlieu, had driven the 
Huguenots to provide for their own defence. In 1628, 
their fortified town of Rochelle was assaulted and taken, 
and from this period we may date the downfal of their 
strength. When the arts of persuasion had in vain 
been tried upon men who preferred death to apostacy. 
the terrors of the law and the fury of military fanati- 
cism, were next employed to shake their resolution. At 
length, in the year 1685, Lewis XIV. was induced by 
the approbation of the Roman pontiff, and the bigoted 
zeal of the greater part of the French clergy, to revoke 
the edict of Nantes, which had so long remained the 
bulwark of the Protestant liberties in France. This 
fatal measure, adopted alike in defiance of the faith of 
treaties and of common humanity, while it effected the 
almost total ruin of the Huguenots, was of serious injury 
to the general welfare of the kingdom. Many of these 
persecuted Protestants, fled from a country in which it 
was not permitted them to enjoy undisturbed, the free 
exercise of religion. Others, who were not allowed 
this melancholy privilege of emigration, were compelled 
to embrace the faith of their enemies, and profess a re- 
ligion they hat«d in their hearts. 



CENTURY SEVENTEENTH. 3?^ 

The Waldenses endured, during the whole of this 
century, serious calamities from the persecuting zeal of 
the Roman bishop and his satellites. In the years lu55. 
1636 and 1696, the flame seems to have raged with the 
greatest vehemence against these inhabitants of the val- 
lies. The Palatinate church, gradually declined from 
the first to the lowest rank among the Protestant church- 
es in Germany. 

The most distinguished interpreter of the sacred 
volume, among the members of the Reformed church, 
was Calvin. Grotius and Cocceius, were the first who 
ventured to differ from the method of that renowned di- 
vine. Grotius followed out, as far as possible, the liter- 
al meaning of words, and supposed that the prophecies 
were generally accomplished before the coming of 
Christ ; while the method of Cocceius was based upon 
the principle, that the sacred history was a perpetual 
image of future events. The followers of each were nu- 
merous. The English divines of the Episcopal church, 
preferred to either of these scholars, the interpretation 
of the ancient fathers, and especially those who were 
nearest the apostolic age. The dogmas of Aristotle, 
which had so long been a law to the majority of Chris- 
tians, were made in this century, to yield to the easier 
and simpler method of interpetration, adopted by the 
Arminians ; to the philosophy of Descartes, as applied to 
the gospel ; and to the notions of Cocceius, in comment- 
ing upon the scripture. William Ames, a Scotchman, 
endeavored to throw new light upon the subject of mo- 
rals. The Arminians pursued this laudable design with 
considerable success ; and among these divines, the 



^74 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

English and French are decidedly the first. On this 
suhject the Presbyterians and Independents of Great 
Britain, by their writings, have well deserved of the 
Christian world. The illustrious names of Cumberland, 
Sherlock, and Cudworth, members of the established 
church in that country, were marshalled against the im- 
moral and atheistical doctrines of Hobbes. Although 
the influence exercised in this age by the school of Ge- 
neva was exceedingly great, yet did not all the mem- 
bers of the Reformed church by any means agree in 
her notions respecting the divine decrees. Even those 
who were in general attached to the theological dogmas 
of the school of Geneva, differed in their mode of ex- 
plaining them. On the one hand, the Sublapsarians held 
that God only permitted, but did not decree the fall 
of man ; while those who were denominated Supralap- 
sariansy maintained that from eternity, the fall of Adam 
and every event consequent upon it, had been foreor- 
dained. Arminius, a professor in the university of 
Leyden, openly rejected the doctrine of the divine de- 
crees, as taught in Geneva, and made common cause 
with the Lutherans on the subject of predestination and 
grace.* A majority of the states of Holland, in order 



* This eminent, man had in early life adcpte.i the discipline of Geneva, 
and had been the friend of Theodore Beza. But changing his opinions after- 
ward*, he publicly taught at Amsterdam, sentiments on the subject of divine 
predestination, very different from those entertained by the Calvinbt?. He 
was openly opposed by Gomar, his colleague in the university of Leydeu, 
who maintained that the decrees of God were absolute, and aot conditional. 
On the death of Arminius, anno 1G09, his followers prepared, and the yea' 
fallo^ins; presented to the States of Holland a book of remonstrance, in wliicj 
fa'i contained as exposition al their doctrine., comprised ii: five articles, aj»U 



CENTURY SEVENTEENTH. SJj 

therefore, to settle a controversy so serious, summoned, 
in the year 1618, a council to meet at Dort. At this 
celebrated synod were present, beside the divines of 
Holland, some of the most eminent scholars from the 
churches of England, Switzerland, Bremen, Hesse, and 
the Palatinate. The cause of the Arminians was 
pleaded by Episcopius, professor of Sacred learning 
in the academy of Leyden ; but in as much as they dis- 
approved of the order and mode of acting in the synod, 
and objected to the trial as one in which the party was 
also the judge, they were excluded from the assembly, 
and condemned in their absence. Canons were framed 
explaining the controverted points, according to the 
hypothesis of the Sublapsarians, and the Belgic confes- 
sion with the Heidelberg catechism, were approved by 
the votes of the members present. The meeting was 
finally concluded on the 29th of May, anno 1619, after 
one hundred and eighty sittings. It is somewhat re- 
markable, that after the council of Dort, the doctrines 
of Geneva rapidly declined. The Arminian divines 
were men of profound learning and great eloquence, 
and no small part of the Christian world became per- 



from which they have also received the name of Remonstrants. The magis- 
trates of the country in which these disputes originated endeavored to repress 
them, and recommended moderation to both parties. A conference was held 
at the Hasue, and another at Delft, but produced no effect. Maurice, prince 
©f Orange, from some secret misunderstanding with the Arminian leaders, had 
warmly espoused the cause of the Calvinists. Grotius was thrown into prison, 
and Oldenbarnevelt was beheaded. But the Arminians in general, were 
charged with n© crime against toe state,, and it was necessary to bring ttteijfc 
cause before m ecclesiastical tribunal. 



376 ECCLESIASTCAL HIST0RT. 

suaded of the justice of their cause. The provinces of 
Friesland, Zealand, Utrecht, Guelderland, and Gronin- 
gen, did indeed intimate, anno 1651, their readiness to 
acknowledge the decrees of the synod of Dort ; but this 
expression of their sentiments is not to be considered in 
the character of a law. The churches, respectively, of 
Brandenburgh and Bremen, would by no means con- 
sent to adopt the Calvinistic tenets. The whole of the* 
English church, (with not many exceptions,) went over 
under the influence of its primate Laud, to the side of 
Arminius, or rather to the sentiments of the earlier 
fathers, who, before the time of Austin, do not appear 
to have set limits to the mercy of God. As long as the 
Reformed church of France subsisted, she differed in ma- 
ny respects from the common rule of her sister churches, 
and endeavored, for the sake of peace, to steer a middle 
course between the Arminians on the one hand, a.nd the 
high-toned Calvinists on the other. The period of 
this moderation may be dated from the year 1615, 
when Piscator first broached the opinion, that Christ 
did not by his obedience as man, make satisfaction to 
the divine law in our stead. The divines of Saumur, 
with Cameron, and afterwards Amyraut at their head, 
endeavored to reconcile the decrees of the synod of 
Dort with the opinions of those who extend the hope of 
salvation to the whole human race. According to their 
opinion, God wills the salvation of all men, nor refuses 
to any the power of believing ; but not to all does he 
extend his assistance in improving and availing them- 
selves of this succour. Hence the multitudes that 
perish, cannot attribute their fall to God, but to them- 



CENTURY SEVENTEENTH. 3<J 

selves. The maintainors of this notion, were denom- 
inated hypothetical Universalists.* It is impossible; 
as indeed it would be uninteresting, to treat of the va- 
rious, and even insignificant, disputes which occurred 
among the Belgic divines. The Cartseian controversy, 
however, deserves, from its importance, not to be 
passed over in silence. The philosophy of Descaites 
and the doctrines of Cocceius, have no necessary or 
even natural connexion ; and yet, by a remarkable 
combination, the followers of either insensibly united, 
so that those who followed the philosophical notions 
of Descartes, took Cocceius as their guide in theol- 
ogy. Hence they naturally united against their com- 
mon adversaries, who from Gilbert Voet were denom- 
inated Voetians. A professor of Utrecht, Voetius had, 
so early as the year 1639, attacked the philosophical 
system of Descartes, as inimical to religion, because its 
author had made scepticism on every subject, the first 
step in his scheme — had maintained that the essence of 
spirit consists in thought — that space had no existence, 
and that matter was without bounds. To the flame, which 
already raged with sufficient violence, new fuel was add- 
ed in those places where the precepts of Descartes were 
applied to sacred learning. In 1656, several religious 
assemblies throughout Batavia, came to the resolution 
of expelling this philosophy from the fields of divine 
science, and measures were accordingly taken for that 
purpose. All these resolutions could not, however^ 



* On the side of Amyrant we number the names of Dailey, Blondee, am 4 , 
iaude ; and againstbim, Revet, Spenheim, and Des Marets. 

32 



378 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

prevent the circulation of the dogmas of Descartes ; 
and his philosophy attained a firm footing in the schools. 
John Cocceius or Koch, a professor of Leyden, intro- 
duced into theology much that was new. He supposed 
that the sacred volume exhibits a picture of all things 
which shall take place to the end of the world ; nay, 
that its very letters and moral sentences shadowed out 
the future fate of the church ; in a word, that the scrip- 
tures meant whatever they could be madato mean. 
The history of the church he divided into seven periods. 
This system he explained under the figure of a cove- 
nant : and in so doing, ran into many inaccuracies 
respecting the Mosaic dispensation. The controver- 
sies which arose between those who espoused his doc- 
trines and their opponents, filled all Europe with com- 
motions ; but the theology of Cocceius, like the Carte- 
san speculations, maintained its ground in the schools. 
Controversy of one kind invariably becomes the parent 
of another. Some of the Cartesians, at the head of 
whom was Roel, professor at Franaker, broached opin- 
ions in the year 1686, which were thought to attribute 
too much to human reason in discussing religious mat- 
ters. The whole of the dispute was embraced in the 
questions, whether the divine origin and authority of 
the scriptures could be proved from reason alone, and 
whether they proposed any points of belief repugnant 
to that faculty in man. In 1691, Becker, a minister of 
the church at Amsterdam, assuming, as a ground work, 
the notions of Descartes, concerning the essence of 
spirit, perverted, in his " World beioitched," the ex- 
pressions of scripture on the agency of evil spirits, and 



century Seventeenth. 379 

the power of demons, and converted them into allego- 
ries. Deprived of his office, he died in the year 1718, 
declaring with his latest breath, the truth of the senti- 
ments which he had publicly avowed. It is difficult, 
and indeed wou! 1 be no satisfactory labor, to trace the 
various sects, half iniidel and half christian, which sprung 
up, especially in the Netherlands and Great Britain. 
Isaac Verschoor, of Flushing, by mingling the doctrines 
of Spinoza and Cocceius, gave rise to a new form of 
religion, as extravagant as impious. In sentiment with 
this fanatic, agreed, though not io all respects, the Hat- 
temistS) so called from Poruian Van Hattem, who was 
a fatalist in doctrine, and made religion to consist in a 
perfect tranquillity under every event. The sects still 
subsist, but under different names from those of their 
founders. The churches of Switzerland, fearing the 
propagation of the doctrines of Amyrault, Capellus and 
others, and the consequent decline of the established 
decrees of the council of Dort, published, in the year 
1675, the well known Form of Concord , drawn up by 
Heidegger. To this formula, many conscientiously 
refused to subscribe their assent. The canton of Basil 
and republic cf Geneva, by consent of Frederick WiU 
Ham, elector of Brandenburgh, abrogated the form, 
anno 1686, and though it continued elsewhere its au- 
thority for some time, the disorders it occasioned have 
at last sunk it in oblivion. 

From the station which the church of England assumed 
in consequence of her high ideas upon the subject of a 
lawful succession in the ministry, and the ordinary ne- 
cessity of episcopal ordination to qualify the ministers 



SO ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

of the gospel for their office, she might properly deserve 
a formal consideration, as separate from those com- 
munities we have chosen to include under the title of 
the Reformed church. The inconvenience, however, 
of many subdivisions, combined with other reasons, is 
a sufficient inducement to still continue the arrangement 
pursued in the former century. The succession ol 
James VI. of Scotland, to the crown of England, on 
the death of Queen Elizabeth, anno 1603, gave pro- 
mise to the Puritans, that if not with favor they would 
be treated with kindness. On his accession, how- 
ever, to the throne, it was soon apparent that James T 
sentiments were entirely favorable to the constitu- 
tion of the English church, and the Episcopal form 
of government. Notwithstanding the efforts of Arch- 
bishop Abbot, a zealous calvinist, the king on the return 
of the commissioners from Dort, expressed his strong 
disapprobation of the decrees of that council, and with 
the body of his clergy openly espoused the tenets of Ar~ 
minius. James terminated his life, anno 1625, a firm 
friend of episcopacy — a warm adherent of the Arminian 
cause, and a bitter opponent of those very Puritans in 
whose doctrines and discipline he had been educated 
and born.* Charles I. his son and successor, contem- 
plated bringing all the churches of Great Britain and 
Ireland under the episcopal jurisdiction, and to as near 
a conformity as possible with the discipline and doctrine 



*Tn 1604, was held the conference of Hampton court, letwecnthe episcopal 
and puritan divine?, in which the former carried thedaw— See Collver> R, 
H, 1. 8, 675. 



CENTURY SEVENTEENTH. 381 

of the primitive church, without regard to that of Gene- 
va. The great agent and adviser, employed in these 
schemes, was the celebrated William Laud, bishop of 
London, and afterwards primate of all England, a god- 
ly divine and firm friend of the established church, but 
an immoderate lover of ceremonies, and remarkable 
for his dislike of Calvinism aiid the Puritans. The 
measures of Laud were generally unpalatable, and 
highly offensive to the house of commons ; and this 
eminent prelate was beheaded in the year 1644. Af- 
ter his death, the Fresbyierians and Independents gain- 
ed the supremacy, and in 1648, to the astonishment of 
Europe and the disgrace of then country, brought their 
sovereign to the block. The Independents, who are 
usually charged with this regicide, derive their appel- 
lation from agreeing with the Brownisis in maintaining 
that all christian assemblies are independent distinct 
churches, in which respect they principally differ from 
Presbyterians. This sect appears to have originated 
in Holland, anno 1610. John Robinson, the minister 
of a congregation of Brownists at Leyden, perceiving 
the defects which reigned in the discipline of Brown, 
employed his zeal in correcting it ; and by skill and 
perseverance, rendered the new family to which he 
gave rise, improved alike in moderation towards other 
churches, and in a certain regularity of ministerial func- 
tions. The society of Independents lay for some time 
in seclusion in England, in consequence of the laws 
promulgated against non-conformists. On the decline 
of episcopacy, anno 1640, they took courage and open- 
ly made their appearance. After this they increased 
32* 



382 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY* 

so rapidly, not only in repute, but in numbers, as to 
contest the superiority as well with the Presbyterians as 
with the falling cause of Episcopacy. During the pro- 
tectorate of Cromwell, who may be considered as one 
of their number, their power was at its height. The 
restoration of Charles II. reduced them once more to 
their former obscurity. In the reign of William 
III. anno 1690, from diminution of numbers as well as 
strength, they were led to unite themselves under cer- 
tain heads of agreement with the party of Presbyterians. 
Episcopalians alone were excepted from the general 
toleration granted during Cromwell's usurpation ; and 
their bishops were deprived of" their emoluments and 
honors. At this period arose, what were called the 
fifth-monarchy men, or those who expected that Jesus 
Christ was now about to appear and establish on earth 
a new and celestial kingdom. The deists also, with 
Sidney, Neville, Martin, and Harrington, at their head, 
procured numerous followers ; and the lawless Antino- 
miansy with various other sects, took occasion to gather 
strength. In order, if possible, to remove these reli- 
gious dissensions, certain learned and pious individuals 
attempted to mediate between the more rigid Episco- 
palians on the one hand, and the severer Presbyterians 
and Independents on the other. These moderate di- 
vines are usually denominated Latitudinarians. They 
not only professed conformity to the ecclesiastical go- 
vernment, established by law, but acknowledged its 
agreement with the word of God. They did not, howev- 
er, hold it absolutely essential, nor think it a sufficient 
ground of exclusion from communion. In matters 6i 



CENTURY SEVENTEENTH. 383 

doctrine, they held with Episcopius, that the articles 
which a Christian ought to know and believe, were 
reduceable to a few heads ; and that where these were 
acknowledged, there ought to be the judgment of charity. 
The honorable names of Chillingworth, Hales, More. 
Cudworth, Gale, Whichcot, Burnet and Tillotson, are 
numbered on the latitudinarian side, and though se- 
verely censured by many, they were called, under 
Charles II. to fill some of the most conspicuous stations 
in the church. At this day there exist in England, no 
small number of divines, entertaining the same opinions ; 
while others again breathe the sentiments of Laud, 
upon the indispensible necessity of episcopal succession 
and orders, to constitute a lawful church ; and hence 
have originated the terms of high and low church-men. 
The return of Charles II. to the throne of his father, 
restored to its former footing the ancient mode of ec- 
clesiastical government and discipline, and the bishops 
to their former rank and dignities. This order was 
established even in Scotland and Ireland. In 1662, 
all who refused to conform to the rites and subscribe 
the doctrines of the church of England, were by law 
excluded from her communion. From this time the 
non-conformists suffered various changes of fortune. In 
1689, William III. with the almost unanimous consent 
of both houses of parliament, freed from the penalties 
enacted against them all the dissenting sects, except 
the Socinians. He also allowed the kirk of Scotland 
an entire conformity to the Geneva discipline, and ex- 
empted it wholly from the jurisdiction of bishops. In 
the reign of this prince, anno 1689 5 occurred the mema* 



S4 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

rable expulsion of certain bishops from their sees on 
account of their refusal to take trie oaths of allegiance 
to a monarch whom they couid not he induced to con- 
sider otherwise than as an usui per. Eight bishops, there- 
fore, with the primate Sancroft at their head, formed a 
separate episcopal church. They maintained the doc- 
trine of passive obedience, a non-resistance under any 
pretext to the lawful sovereign, and of the insubordina- 
tion of the church to any civil magistrate ; and denied 
the legality of the act which deprived them of theii 
temporalties. 



SECTION VI. 

OF FANATICS, ENTHUSIASTS, AND HERETICS. 

About the middle of this age, there appeared in 
England a remarkable sect, who from their manner in 
public worship, received and deserved the appellation 
of Quakers.* The founder of this society was George 
Fox, a shoemaker by trade, of an enthusiastic disposi- 
tion, and fully persuaded that he was divinely inspired. 
On the death of Charles I. anno 1649, his followers 
spread themselves over many counties of England, and 
in some places proceeded so far as to disturb the per- 
formance of the public worship in churches. It may 
indeed be said that the faults which belonged to some 
who bear their name ought not to be attributed to the 

' Among themselves they etnplby tie term Friends* 



CENTUM SEVENTEENTH. 38j 

society in general, and it cannot be denied that they 
sustained with resignation and patience, the punishment 
they received as disturbers of the peace. Upon the 
demise of Cromwell, who had treated them at first 
with some severity, the Quakers seem to have lost 
that fanatical character which certainly belonged to 
them in the outset of their career. In the reign of 
Charles II. the doctrine and discipline of the sect 
assumed, in the hands of the celebrated Robert Barclay 
and William Penn, its leaders and ornaments, who* 
were also assisted by Fisher and Fox, a degree of sta- 
bility and a permanent form. They were severely 
handled during a great part of the reign of Charles II. 
and their meetings were prohibited ; but their fortitude 
and patience procured foi them better days \ and un- 
der James II. who succeeded his brother Charles, who 
was fond of affecting a general toleration, and with 
whom Penn was a great favorite, their condition was 
flourishing, and their principles were tolerated. In the 
time of Charles II. many of them to avoid the arm of 
persecution passed over to Holland, and Penn settled 
a large and flourishing colony in that part of North 
America, which still bears his name as patentee of the 
crown, and where the sect still subsists in a more pros- 
perous condition than perhaps in any other part of the 
world. The principal pillar on which rests the doctrine of 
the Quakers is, that in every man's bosom there resides 
a portion of divine wisdom simicient for his salvation, if 
subduing the carnal man, he attends to its admonitions. 
The great advantages of the scriptures, they maintain 
to be their tendency to promote a reverence for this 



586 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

divine and internal light. On the subject of the Trin- 
ity they hold, that it is a mystery into which it does not 
become so frail a creature as man to penetrate. They 
admit that the seed of sin, transmitted from Adam to 
his posterity, originated from the evil spirit, but is en- 
tirely overcome as soon as the internal light gains the 
ascendency, and leads the man by various degrees to 
perfection. They, in general, acknowledge the divinity 
of Christ, and on him alone bestow the title of the 
word of God; but many of them speak of the things 
recorded of him in the scriptures, as an allegory refer- 
ring to the Christ which is formed within. The sacra- 
ment of baptism and the Lord's supper, they resolve into 
a spiritual cleansing and participation of Christ through 
faith. Although they affirm that true worship is not 
confined to any time or place, they think it incumbent 
on Christians often to meet together, and in those meet- 
ings all who are moved by the spirit, speak for the edi- 
fication of the assembly. There are persons, howev- 
er, appointed in their assemblies to see that all things 
are done decently and in order. All outward marks of 
respect and titles ihey reject as inconsistent with Chris- 
tian simplicity — are exceeding plain in their attire — 
are averse to exercise the magistracy, and hold it un- 
lawful to take any oath whatever or offer resistance to 
personal violence. 

With difficulty, and not without powerful interces- 
sion, did the Anabaptists obtain in England, Germany, 
and Switzerland, that toleration which had been grant- 
ed them in the United Provinces. There are not 
wanting instances in which, during the course of this 



CENTURY SEVENTEENTH. 38? 

century, they were capitally and otherwise punished. 
The numerous assurances, however, and proofs fur- 
nished of their innocence and probity, have generally 
procured them the quiet enjoyment of their religion and 
the exercise of their respective civil occupations. To give 
stability to this external peace, they turned their atten- 
tion to silence internal discord. The various commu- 
nities became divided into the more austere Anabap- 
tists, called Flemings, or Flandrians, and the grosser 
or more moderate, called Waterlandians. The former 
adhere strictly to the sentiments of Simon Menno, and 
are averse to letters — the latter are more moderate, 
more learned, and more attentive to the elegancies of 
polished life. These two grand divisions, it ought to be 
remarked, comprise several others of minor conse- 
quence. In 1664, a part of the Waterlandians became 
divided into the Galenists, whose founder Galen de 
Haan, was inclined to open the Menonite communion 
to all who acknowledged the divine authority of the 
scriptures, and lived chaste and upright lives ; and the 
Apostoolians, or followers of Samuel Apostool, who 
was remarkable for maintaining with the utmost warmth, 
the divinity and atonement of Christ, and the ancient 
hypothesis of a visible and glorious church upon earth. 
The first firm footing which the Unitarians obtained, 
was in Poland ; and after the appearance of Faustus 
Soeinus among them, their prospects grew brighter 
from day today. About the year 1630, this prosper- 
ous course of events began suddenly to decline. Eight 
years after, the Racovian students, in a sudden excite- 
ment, broke to pieces a wooden representation of our 



j8S ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

Saviour in the agonies of crucifixion. The civil au- 
thorities of Poland, in consequence, suppressed their 
school, ordered their church to be shut, and banished 
its teachers with marks of disgrace. In 1658, a severe 
edict was passed which expelled the Socinians entirely 
from Poland, and denounced capital punishment against 
all who professed their doctrines. Thus exiled, a 
great part of the Socinians passed over into Prussia, 
England, and Batavia, and by the connivance of the 
magistrates, clandestinely held their religious assem- 
blies. In England, John Biddle, who, however, was 
rather an Arian, than a strict adherent to the notions 
of Faustus Socinus, endured during the civil war and 
protectorate of Cromwell, numerous imprisonments, 
and at last died a prisoner, anno 1662, in the reign of 
Charles II. under force of a law, which in 1648 had 
been promulged against the Unitarians. The Unitarians 
in the reign of William III. neither adhered in all points 
to the opinions of Biddle nor to those of Socinus. The 
name of Thomas Emlen is to be found among their num- 
bers, and the same may be said of the paradoxical Whis- 
ton, who it cannot be denied, has adorned the republic 
of letters with many ingenious works. 

While the Arminian controversy was at its height, 
arose the sect of Collegiants, so called from terming 
their religious meetings colleges. Assemblies for public 
worship, (where any male individual is allowed to 
speak,) are held on Sunday and Wednesday. Twice a 
year there is a general meeting at Rhinesberg, and du- 
ring the four days employed in religious exercise, the 
Lord's Supper and the rite of baptism are administered. 



CENTURY SEVENTEENTH. "SO 

In a word, the Collegiants receive all orders of profess- 
ing Christians without regard to their sentiments con- 
cerning the person and doctrine of Christ. John Lab- 
badie, a Frenchman, who received at his own request 
an honorable discharge from the society of Jesuits, and 
became attached to the Reformed church, established at 
Wervorden, and afterwards at Altona, anno 1670, a 
new society, which differed, however, in no essential 
point of doctrine from the other Reformed churches 
and numbered among its members the renowned Maria 
Schurman. About the same time as Labbadie, flourish- 
ed Antonia Bourignon de la Porte, a native of Flanders, 
who professed to be divinely inspired for the purpose 
of restoring the Christian religion, lost among so many 
disputes and contentions. Endowed with an inexhausti- 
ble fertility of imagination, this remarkable woman fill- 
ed the provinces of Holland, Flanders, and Germany, 
with the fame of her theological system, and persuaded 
many learned and devout men into a belief of her 
visionary doctrines. She ended her days at Franeker, 
anno 1680. From the writings she left behind, she 
appears to have considered the Christian religion as 
consisting in a certain internal feeling and divine impulse, 
and neither in knowledge nor deeds. Of a similar cha- 
racter and with a similar view to establish a glorious 
communion of saints, Jane Leadley, an English female, 
proclaimed herself commissioned by God, and establish- 
ed the sect called the Philadelphian Society. Jt was 
the idea of this female, that among all Christians, there 
would exist a delightful and harmonious agreement upon 
earth, if they would but attend in all things to the in- 
33 



390 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

ternal guide, which formed a portion of every man, 
and was an emanation from God. The final restoration 
of all intelligent beings to happiness in heaven, formed 
a part of her scheme. But her followers possessed not 
the ingenuity or eloquence of those of madam Bourignon, 
and the historian looks in vain at the present day, for 
any disciples cf Mrs. Leadley. 



CENTURY EIGHTEENTH. 

SECTION I. 

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 

The faith of the gospel was zealously propagated in 
this century throughout Asia, America, and Africa, alike 
by Roman Catholic and Protestant missions. The 
French Jesuits penetrated, in the course of their labors, 
into the kingdoms of Car date, Madura, and Mirava, 
the empire of China, the kingdom of Tonquin, and cer- 
tain provinces of America. Clement XI. in the year 
1704, determined against the Jesuits the celebrated 
question, whether they had rightly and truly promoted 
the cause of Christ among the Chinese. The pontiff 
pronounced it absolutely inadmissible, that converts of 
that nation should be permitted to retain the ceremo- 
nies by which they had been wont to honor the me- 
mory of their ancestors, and especially that of the law- 
giver Confucius. In 1715, a milder edict was issued 
from the papal chair, by which the missionaries of Chi- 
na were allowed to use the word tien to express the 
nature of the deity, but with the addition of the word 
tchity to shew that not heaven, but the God of heaven^ 
was the object of worship. Certain ceremonies were 
also permitted, on condition of their being considered 



392 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

only as marks of esteem and tokens of civil honor. 
The former edict of 1705, was carried to China, by Car- 
dinal Tournon, as legate of the pope, and the latter by 
Mezzabarba, anno 1721. Neither of these edicts was 
agreeable to the emperor or the Jesuits, Tournon was 
thrown into prison where he died, and Mezzabarba re- 
turned unsuccessful to Rome .* 

The Dutch, and more especially the English, employ- 
ed greater diligence during the course of this century, 
than they had ever done before, in carrying the know- 
ledge of the Christian religion among the nations of 
Asia and America. Frederick IV. king of Denmark, 
sent a mission to the coast of Malabar, anno 1705; 
where a college was founded and schools were instituted 
for the instruction of the native youths. The mission 
yet exists, and has occasionally received the assistance 
of the society in England for propagating the gospel. 
The Lutherans, in 1779, were allowed by the Dutch 
a settlement on the Cape of Good Hope, and successive- 
ly exerted themselves in both the Carol! nas, Pennsyl- 
vania, and Virginia, provinces of North America, as 
well as in several of the West India islands belonging 
to the Danish monarch. By the liberality and zeal of 
Christian VI. a mission was undertaken in 1731, and 
subsequently revived in Greenland, by certain Danish 



* Clement XII and Benedict XIV. showed their disapprobation of thecoiT- 

ductof 1 he Jesuit*, but jt dotes bo) appear to have bad any influence; and 

notVrittistaiuIing the biiH of Clement XIV, which pronounced the entire pup- 

press:on of their order, the Jesuit:-. 1>> permission of the bishop of Macao 

Dtinueto exercise their mission R3 heretofQi«. 



CENTURY EIGHTEENTH. 393 

divines. From the Dutch press in Ceylon, there issued 
translations of the scriptures and of the Heidelberg cate- 
chism, into the various languages of the surrounding na- 
tions ; nor could a conspiracy in Java, sei on foot for 
the purpose of extirpating the Christians, put an end 
to their pious endeavors. The society in England for 
propagating the gospel in foreign parts, the Codrington 
college, founded in the island of Barbados, and the soci- 
ety for extending the gospel in the northern parts of 
Scotland, and adjacent isles,* sent forth zealous and 
efficacious ministers to convert the heathen, and preach 
the gospel wherever there might be a chance of success. 
Philotheus, bishop of Siberia, in 1712, attempted the 
conversion of the Ostiak tribes, and the work was well 
continued by Theodore, the metropolitan of Tobolsk. 
In recording the laudable exertions of missionaries, 
those of the evangelical brethren, or Herrnhuters ; 
Ought not to be forgotten. In 1732 they, for the first 
time, sent two of their ministers to the island of St. 
Thomas, under the dominion of Denmark. In the fol- 
lowing year a mission was undertaken by them to Green- 
land, and numerous establishments were made in differ- 
ent parts of America. The Methodists, of whom we 
are shortly to make mention, were not so prosperous 
in their efforts, among the wandering tribes of the new 
world. 

In proportion as there is ample occasion for re- 
joicing in the spread of the gospel, there is abundant 



* Under the auspices of this society it was that Divid Brainard effected so 
much in North America. 

33* 



>94 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

room for lamentation, when we contemplate ihe num- 
ber of those, who, throughout Europe, either sought to 
wean mankind from all acknowledgment of a superin- 
tending Providence, or induce thorn to apostatize from 
their faith in the Christian scheme of salvation Of 
Atheists indeed, the number at any period has been ex- 
ceedingly small. Among these, we find the conspicuous 
name of Toland, an Irishman, who, following the steps 
of Spinoza, at length attempted, in a work entitled 
Pantheist ico?i, anno 1720, to invalidate the canonical 
authority of the New Testament. But the shafts 
struck at religion were principally aimed through the 
Christian revelation, and those who wielded them are 
usually classed under the name of naturalists or deists. 
At the head of this list, stands Anthony Collins, who in 
his discourse of free-thinking, first endeavored to sap 
the foundation of men's faith, and afterwards, in a work 
on the grounds and reasons of the Christian Religion, 
aimed to prove that the prophecies of the Old Testa- 
ment could not be applied in their proper sense to our 
Saviour. Anthony Ashley Cooper, lord Schaftesbury, 
in his celebrated Characteristics, made ridicule the 
test of truth, and inveighed against the hope of reward 
after death, as an honorable or proper stimulus to a vir- 
tuous course of action in this world. Woolston pro- 
nounced the gospel history in its literal sense to be ab- 
surd, and resolved ail miracles and the actions recorded 
of the Deity into allegorical figures. Tindal proclaimed 
natural religion sufficient for man's salvation. He was 
joined by Thomas Morgan, successively an Arian, So- 
n, Quaker, and Deist, who maintained that thr 



CENTURY EIGHTEENTH. 395 

Old Testament was corrupted by Moses and the pro- 
phets — that Paul was an enthusiast, and that Christ 
was a good man, who sought to set forth a perfect sys- 
tem of natural religion. Thomas Chub, a tallow chan- 
dler, resolved the gospel into mere natural religion, but 
admitted the promise of divine grace through Christ, 
and the doctrine of a future state, while he denied the 
utility of prayer. Henry, viscount Bolingbroke, reject- 
ed the Mosaic account as fabulous and uncertain, and 
supposed the gospel to be of two kinds, one proceeding 
from Christ and conformable to the law of nature, the 
other from St. Paul, and loaded with cabalistic stories. 
The doctrine of atonement he conceived to lead to 
atheism. In God he allowed no moral attributes, or 
providence extendiug to individuals, and rejected the 
doctrine of a resurrection, however useful it may 
prove for political purposes. The opinions of Boling- 
broke bear a near affinity to those of Hume, who de- 
nied, as is well known, the possibility of miracles, the 
notion of a providence, and indeed the utility as well 
as truth of the Christian religion. Of the French and 
German deists, it is sufficient to mention among the 
former the names of Rousseau, of Helvetius, of Francis 
Arouet Voltaire, whose principal object it was to throw 
contempt on Christianity, and of Diderot, a physician, 
who resolved every thing into choice. Among the 
Germans, Charles Gebhard impugned the history of 
the scriptures, Hatzfield promised a better scheme of 
religion than the Christian, and Lessing undertook to 
explain the prophecies of the Old Testament concern- 
ing Christ, by reference to the ^Egyptian astrology. 



396 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

It would be inconsistent with the brevity of this work, 
even to recapitulate the names of the veteran scholars 
who ably and irrefragibh answered the reasoning and 
objections urged against the truth of Christianity. 



SECTION II. 

HISTORY OF THE ROMISH CHURCH. 

Though the state of the Romish clergy has under- 
gone some change, they are still found dependent on 
the nod and authority of the Roman pontiff. Pius VI. 
entered into an agreement with Joseph ill that the col- 
lation of ecclesiastical benefices should depend on the 
emperors will. The immunities of the clergy were no 
longer protected in France, and the duchies of Parma 
and Tuscany followed an example which seemed to be 
growing prevalent. 

Whatever errors may be attributed to the monkish 
orders of this age, it cannot be denied that many, such 
as the priests of the Oratory, the Congregation of St. 
Maur, the Benedictines, and Jesuits, with zeal and suc- 
cess addicted themselves to the cultivation of letters. 
In 1765, no less than seventy-eight monasteries were 
suppressed in Sicily. In the same year the king of 
France subjected all the monks in his dominions to the 
authority of bishops ; and in the course of his reign, 
the emperor Joseph II. ordered the suppression of all 
the monkish orders which were deemed useless or pre- 
judicial to the interests of the state ; among others of 
the Carmelites, Capuchins, Benedictines, and Domin- 



CENTURY EIGHTEENTH. 397 

icans. Some new orders, however, were instituted in 
this century, and the title of defenders of the immaculate 
conception of the Virgin given to one of them, anno 1729, 
by Charles of Bavaria, may serve to indicate the cha- 
racter of the rest. Offended at the conduct of the Je- 
suits in his dominions, the king of Portugal determined 
to remove them from the office of Confessors to his 
court and family. The irritated order conspired, in 
consequence, anno 1758, to dethrone the monarch. 
But the providence of God prevented their success, and 
the king lived to punish she leaders of the conspiracy. 
An attempt to assassinate Lewis XV, of France, anno 
1757, was also attributed to the Jesuits, and so great a 
degree of obliquy attached itself to the order, that nei- 
ther a papal bull in their favor, nor the efforts of the 
archbishop of Faris, could prevent their suppression 
throughout France, anno 1762, by a royal decree. 
About five years afterwards, the same fate overtook 
them in the dominions of the kings of Spain, Naples, 
and the duke of Parma ; and the pope was every where 
clamarously solicited to give the death blow to the 
whole body. The task fell on Francis Ganganelli, Cle- 
ment XIV.; the famous bull for their suppression enti- 
tled Dominus ac redemptor noster was issued, and Lau- 
rentius Ricci the last general of the order, died a pri- 
soner at Rome, anno 1775. 

The doctrines of the council of Trent still remain 
the standard of the Romish church. Some of its di- 
vines and even its pontiffs have endeavoured to soften 
its grosser errors. The reading of the scriptures has 

* The revival of this order is well kDO\vn» 



398 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

not only been recommended by several eminent indi- 
viduals, but, in I7B1 ? the emperor Joseph ordered, 
that none in his dominions should be debarred from the 
study of sacred literature. 

An impolitic design was formed, but not carried into 
execution, of canonizing pope Hildebrand, some festi- 
vals were abolished, but new ceremonies were added to 
the festival of St. Peter, and a day was expressly dedi- 
cated by Benedict XIV. to the seven joys of the virgin 
Mary. The tribunal of the inquisition, though existing 
in Spain, was shorn of some of its powers by Charles 
III. In 1784, it exercised its office, by condemning 
some persons on the charge of magic. The archbishop 
of Naples attempted in vain to introduce it into that 
city, and in the dukedom of Tuscany it was totally 
abolished. The efforts of the Romish church, to restore 
to her communion some of her lost members, were not 
without their fruits.* 

The philosophy of Aristotle began to give ground to 
that introduced by Wolf, and the Romish church num- 
bers in her list of learned men, the venerable names 
of Natalis Alexander, Cardinal JN orris, Lewis Eilies 
du Pin, Longueval, Fleury, the two Muratoris, Si- 
mon, Huetius, and Lamy. The paradoxical Harduin 
adorned her walks of sacred criticism ; while a Bos- 
suet, Fenelon, Quesnell, Flechier, and Massilon, have 



* Among the most conspicuous convert- were Christina, the wife of the em- 
peror Charles VI., Anthony Ulric duke of Brunswick and his daughter Chris 
tins, Frederick Augustus the electoral prince of Saxony, Frederick landgrave 
of Hesse, and several other distinguished personages, who returned to her bo- 
,som with every demonstration of compunction, for ever having been out of it . 



CENTURY EIGHTEENTH. 39[) 

left behind them an imperishable fame for theolo- 
gical erudition, and pulpit eloquence. The frequent 
disputes arising between the see of Rome and the na- 
tions to whom her word was once a law, too clearly ex- 
hibited the decline of papal authority and the deter- 
mined opposition which would be made to its encroach- 
ments. But the proselyting spirit of the church of Rome, 
still continued to exert itself in the use of argument and 
arms. 

Not to mention the persecutions exercised against the 
Protestants in greater or less degrees throughout Aus- 
tria, and for a time, Transylvania, Hungary, and Poland, 
Lewis XV. of France renewed, in the year 1724, the se- 
vere edicts of his father, pronounced capital punishment 
upon their pastors, and a sentence of confiscation of pro- 
perty against the rest. In 1746, the Protestants of Dau- 
phiny were dispersed by armed bands, their nobles were 
deprived of their privileges, and those of inferior rank, 
were either heavily fined or sent to the gallies. The arch- 
bishop of Paris, largely shared in these cruelties, and it 
was not till the succession of the mild and pious Lewis 
XVI. to the crown of France, that, though the laws 
against them were not abolished, the Protestants expe- 
rienced a tolerable degree of quiet and the enjoyment of 
their religion. Besides the minor disputes which agi- 
tated the church of Rome, the case and opinions of the 
Jansenists still continued to be the subject of controver- 
sial interest in France. In 1705, the pope issued a bull 
condemnatory of the sentence pronounced by the Sor- 
bonne, in favor of granting absolution to the friends of the 
Jansenists. Shortly afterwards appeared a translation of 
the New Testament, into French; accompanied with a 



400 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

practical commentary, by Quesnell, a priest of the ora- 
tory, which was highly approved by cardinal Noailles, 
and when attacked by the Jesuits, as favorable to Jan- 
senism, defended with warmth by the learned Bossuet. 
The work was, however, condemned by Clement XI. 
anno 1713, in the celebrated bull entitled Unigenitus. 
But the edict of the pontiff was offensive to the regent 
duke of Orleans; and five of the principal bishops of 
France (at the head of whom was Noailles) appealed to 
a general council. Supported by the parliament, the car- 
di nal archbishop disregarded the subsequent bull of 1 7 1 8 , 
which separated from communion with the church of 
Rome, those who refused to obey the papal constitution 
of 1713, and published a pastoral letter, which severely 
animadverted on the holy office at Rome.* After a stre- 
nuous resistance, the parliament of Paris was compelled 
to enrol the bull Unigenitus among its acts, and Fleury, 
afterwards a cardinal, persuaded king Lewis XV. to 
have it inserted, anno 1730, among the public docu- 
ments, as the law of the church and the realm.t In 



* Suddenly, however, and with the utmost inconsistency, Noailles deserted 
the cause, of which he had hitherto been the principal support, gave in his 
subscription without reserve to the !»u)J Unigenitus, and in '728, suppressed 
his pastoral letter; though, in a posthumous declaration the following year, he 
appears to have adhered to the appeal to an ecumenical council. 

t The papal constitution being thus received on public authority thoughout 
France, the Jansenists were driven to support their declining cause by mira- 
cles. The deacon Francis de Paris, anno 1727. with his last breath, had declar- 
ed himself inimical to the bull, and, miracles it was said, were performed 
around his tomb. Noailles at first gave into the belief of them ; but Caspar de 
Vintiraigle who succeeded him in the archepiscopal chair of Paris, not only 
discredited their truth, but procured an order from the king, that the cemetery 
in which lay the bones of the pious Abbe, should be guarded by an armed 
force. Numerous writings appeared on both sides the question; but the fame 
and the credit of the miracles performed, at length fell into decay. 



CENTURY EIGHTEENTH. 401 

^pain the doctors of Salamanca, after some demur, re, 
eeived the bull ; but in Savoy, in Austria, and in Germa- 
ny, it was forbidden by Joseph II. anno 1782, to be recei- 
ved as the law of the church, or be made the subject of 
disputation. The validity of English ordinations was 
ably maintained against Harduin and Le Quien, anno 
1726, by Dr. Francis Courayer, who was rewarded for 
his merits, with a doctorate of divinity, from the Univer- 
sity of Oxford. The celibacy of the clergy became an- 
other ground of controversy among the Romish divines, 
and such had the morals of the Italians in particular be- 
come, that Clement XIV. was solicited to grant them 
the sacrament of marriage. The miserable pretences 
of John Jos. Gasner, at Ratisbon, to cure diseases, and 
expel evil spirits, by invoking the name of Jesus, would 
scarcely deserve mention, notwithstanding the crowds 
who flocked to witness the pretended miracles, if we 
did not find the name of the illustrious Lavater, among 
those who gave credit to their reality. 

The attempt at uniting the Romish and Protestant 
churches, though baffled in a former century, was re- 
newed at the opening of this. In 1704, Fabricius, a di- 
vine of Helmstadt, had expressed an opinion that the 
Romish church was free from fundamental errors, and 
supported that opinion in defiance of the frowns of 
many protestant theologians, throughout Germany, Bel- 
gium, England and France. Peter Laurence, bishop of 
Bellow, was censured by Noailles and Bossuet for con- 
ceeding too much, and cardinal Quirinius was sharply 
treated by the Protestants in answer to his assertions, 
that there existed between his own church and theirs n© 
34 



402 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

sufficient ground of separation ; and that if the Romish 
doctrines concerning popes, cardinals, and other points 
of dispute, were sufficiently understood, they would not 
experience so great animosity. Quirinius does not ap- 
pear to have been moved from his purpose, and he in- 
duced Benedict XIV. to insert in his bull proclaiming a 
jubilee for 1750, an encouragement to Protestants to 
return to his communion. Nicholas ab Hontheim, bishop 
of Treves, under the assumed name of Febronius, dis- 
cussed the subject of papal power, and the extent of ju- 
risdiction belonging to bishops and councils ; but his work 
was condemned by Clement XIII. as tending to the de- 
struction of the see of Rome, " upon which was found- 
ed the whole structure of the Catholic church," and the 
Protestants themselves, though approving much of 
what he wrote, objected to the notion that to circum- 
scribe the limits of papal authority, was alone neces- 
sary to effect the desirable union. It is said, that in 
Germany, but I know not where, a society composed 
of the members of each church, was formed for the pur- 
pose of effecting a junction between the Protestants and 
Roman Catholics. Its purposes were published at 
Leipsic, anno 1781, but to men of discernment, its 
schemes appeared impracticable, and some even sus- 
pected that the whole design was set on foot by the 
Jesuits, with a view to restore the papal power to its 
former lustre. An attempt was also made in the begin- 
ning of the century, to unite the English and Gallican 
churches. The celebrated historian Du Pin, supposing 
that the excitement occasioned by the bull Unigenitus, 
furnished a fair opportunity for promoting this union, 



CENTURY EIGHTEENTH. 403 

wrote upon the subject to archbishop Wake. The pri- 
mate of all England, readily entered into correspon- 
dence with Du Pin, and even proposed as some of the 
terms of concord, " that either party should allow the 
other the judgment of charity, and bear with a disagree- 
ment in matters of a doubtful kind ; that the reverence 
paid to saints might be dispensed with; that the primi- 
tive custom of administering the cup in both kinds to 
the people should be restored ; that though the authori- 
ty of bishops was of divine right, there might still exist 
among them a certain degree of subordination ; and that 
the sacrament might be administered without what was 
termed the elevation of the host." These terms it was 
said met the approbation of the most learned French 
divines. David Wiikins was sent to Paris by the arch- 
bishop, to bring the matter, if possible, to some definite 
terms ; but though frequent deliberations were held, the 
authority of the pontiff was thought necessary to that 
end, and the subject was finally dropt, without being pro- 
ductive of any permanent results.* 



SECTION III. 

HISTORY OF THE GREEK AND ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 

That part of the Greek church which claims the title 
of Orthodox, is divided into those who are under the 



* Du Pin and Girardin are supposed to have gone privately to England after 
the failure of Wiikins in France ; but many have thought that this celebrated 
attempt was nothing more than a plot of those opposed in France to the papal 
constitution, to procure from the pope better terras for themselves. Vid. Olaa? 
Kioerning de consec* Episcoporum Anglorura. 



i04 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

Turkish government, and those who are under the Rus- 
sian. The former were allowed to erect a very splendid 
church at Constantinople, anno 1720. Though their 
murmurs against Mahomet V. for deposing their patri- 
arch, in 1?52 ? taught them to feel for a time the severi- 
ties of a foreign yoke, the reign of Osman III. and the 
favor of his mother Elenora Melitinska, again permitted 
them to experience the usual clemency oi the Ottoman 
court. The number of Christians belonging to the 
Greek church in Constantinople was estimated in the 
year 1740 at no less than 30,000, and was said in the 
islands of the Archipelago to surpass that of the Turks 
themselves. The emigrations however are frequent to 
the Austrian and Russian dominions ; and Frederick II. 
of Prussia granted the Greeks an asylum in his kingdom 
and the exercise of their own worship. That part of 
the Greek church now under consideration acknow- 
ledges the government of the patriarch of Alexandria re- 
siding at Cairo ; of the patriarch of Antioch whose seat is 
at Damascus ; of the patriarch of Jerusalem, who re- 
sides in that city ; and of the patriarch of Constantino- 
ple who exercises over the rest a certain degree of 
power, directs the consecration of the other bishops, is 
himself chosen by the neighboring archbishops and 
metropolitans, and has his election confirmed by the 
Turkish emperor or his viziers. Next in rank to the 
patriarch, are the archbishops and metropolitans, the 
bishops, archimandrites or abbots, and finally the secular 
clergy, consisting of readers, singers, sub deacons, dea- 
cons, presbyters or popes, and protopopes. To the 
-ccular clergy by consent of the bishop, matrimony 



CENTURY EIGHTEENTH. 405 

once, and with a virgin, is allowed ; but the dignified 
orders are always chosen from the Monks.* The doc- 
trine of the Greek church remains in general the same 
as in the last century. t The saints both of the Old 
and New Testament have days appropriated to their 
honor. The reading of the Scriptures is not only allow- 
ed but encouraged. Baptism, anointing after baptism, 
the Lord's Supper, Holy Orders, Matrimony, Penance, 
and Extreme Unction, are all considered sacraments. 
Baptism is administered by immersion and accompanied 
with the rite of exorcism. The Lord's Supper is re- 
ceived in both kinds, the bread used being leavened, and 
the wine mixed with water. The quadragesimal fast 
is strickly observed, neither blood nor things strangled 
is eaten, and the sign of the cross is used for the expul- 
sion of evil spirits. If to these rites and usages, we add 
that the state of literature is improving, — that there are 
no less than four flourishing academies among them, — 
and that many of the patriarchs have distinguished them- 
selves in the walks of learning, — we have as particu- 
lar an outline as the remoteness of our sources of know- 
ledge, and the nature of the present work will admit, 



* The Greek monks follow the rule of St. Basil, live an extremely abstemi- 
ous life ; and are principally to be found on Mount Athos and Sinai and in the 
island of r'atmos. 

t Many of the Greeks did indeed adopt the inexplicable term fxvrxfiwris 
allied to that of transubstantiation in explaining the character of the bread and 
wine after consecration : but the confession of faith acknowledged by the 
church shews bow far it is still removed from affinity with that of Rome , and 
when the patriarch Jeremiah, anno J731, was reduced into the design of sub- 
jecting himself to tne authority of the Roman pontiff, he was deprived of his 
dignity and declared by the Turkish emperor a traitor and a rebel, 

34* 



106 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

of the state of the Greek Christians under the Turk- 
ish dominion. 

The Christians of Georgia and Mingrelia do not ac- 
knowledge the authority of the patriarch of Constantino- 
ple, but have a primate of their own, whom they de- 
nominate their Catholic or Patriarch. Sunk in the low- 
est degree of ignorance and superstition, they worship 
images and saintly relics with a profounder devotion than 
even Roman Catholics. They use oil in baptism, which 
is not administered till two years after birth, and employ 
indiscriminately leavened or unleavened bread, pure or 
adulterated wine, in the Lord's Supper. 

Although the Russian church in its general character 
still followed the doctrine and discipline of the Greeks, it 
underwent from the time of Peter the Great, numerous 
and important changes. In 1721, that monarch abolish- 
ed the patriarchal dignity and substituted in its place an 
ecclesiastical senate called the Holy Synod, composed of 
the most learned and eminent bishops, conjoined with 
the most prudent of the imperial ministers.* 

The Orthodox Confession, which has already been 
mentioned, is with the Russians as with the Greeks, the 
standard of faith. The Russians too, hold images and 
relics in great esteem, and encourage the perusal of the 
sacred volume, of which a translation was made into the 
Sclavonic tongue, anno 1751. All christian denomina- 
tions since the time of Catharine II. are tolerated ; but 
it is usual on Sunday (which on that account is called 



* There a*e now in the Russian church, four MetropoU ans, six Archbish- 
ops, twenty Bishops, and an innumerable number of priests or popes. 



CENTURY EIGHTEENTH. 407 

Orthodox) to pronounce an anathema against heretics 
and schismatics.* 

When Peter I. was at Pans in 1717, the doctors of the 
Sorbonne induced that monarch to permit them to con- 
fer on the subject of an union, with his own divines ; 
but the Russian bishops denied their power or inclination 
to engage in such an alliance, without the consent of the 
four patriarchs of the east. The design therefore was 
without effect, nor can any one be admitted a member of 
the Russian church without solemnly renouncing the er- 
rors of the Romish communion. 

As many of the Greeks who inhabit the countries 
where the Romish religion is professed, joined them- 
selves to that communion, the whole body of them 
became distinguished into the United and Non-united 
Greeks. Towards the close of the century the Walla- 
chian Greeks were persuaded by their bishop Theophilus 
to form a union with Rome, and the pontiff looked for- 
ward to a general subjection of all the Greeks to his au- 
thority. Suddenly however, in 1744, a monk from Mos- 
cow made his appearance, declaimed with vehemence 
against the Roman pontiff, bade the churches of Walla- 
chia beware of the united priests, and so changed the 
face of affairs that neither threats nor persuasions could 
induce the Greeks to return to their connexion with the 
church of Rome. 

The history of that portion of the Greek church which 
is separated from the orthodox may be comprised in a 
small compass. The Nestorians still flourish in Meso- 



■■ Vid. Kicg. 1. c. Act. His. cedes, o.t. T. 1. p. 1S7. sq, 



100 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

potamia, a3 well as in India and Arabia, where they 
are called the Christians of St. Thomas. Those 
of them who are united to the church of Rome, are 
called Chaldeans ; and, in 1770, their bishop is said 
to have acknowledged the pope's supremacy. The 
Monophysites have numerous churches both in Asia and 
Africa. In the eucharist they hold a certain assumption 
of the bread and wine into a union which they term hy- 
postatic. Baptism is principally administered at Easter 
and Pentecost ; the candidate being clothed in white, and 
after the rite, receiving the Lord's Supper. The Mo- 
nophysites of Asia, are either Jacobites or Armenians: 
the former of whom acknowledge the patriarch of Anti- 
och and Mephranius of the East, while the latter are un- 
der other patriarchs, the chief of whom is resident at 
Echmiazin. The African Monophysites inhabit Egypt 
and Abyssinia ; the former are called Copts, and submit 
to the authority of the patriarch of Alexandria whose 
seat is at Cahiva. The Abyssinians, whose emperor is 
himself a Monophysite, are subject to the Alexandrian 
patriarch, receive from him an A buna or primate, and 
regulate their public services with greater simplicity than 
the Copts. The Maronites, or offspring of the ancient 
Monothelites, though acknowledging the authority of the 
bishop of Rome, administer the communion in both 
kinds, — use the Syriac as well as the Latin in divine wor- 
ship, — allow the marriage of the clergy, — and choose their 
ewn bishop to be afterwards confirmed by the pope.* In 



* This prelate assumes the title of patriarch of Antioch, and has twelve 
bishops under him. 



CENTURY EIGHTEENTH. 409 

1736, the celebrated Asseman was commissioned by the 
Roman pontiff to a meeting among the Maronites, for the 
purpose of effecting a reformation of manners. 

Of the other eastern sects, it is sufficient to remark, 
that the Sabaei who from their practice seem to be de- 
scendants of the old Hemerobaptists, look upon John the 
Baptist as their founder, from whence they are sometimes 
called the Christians of St. John ; that the Jesideans still 
inhabit the mountains of Judea, the Druses mount Liba- 
nus, the Chamsi Mesopotamia, and that the faith of them 
all is but a medley of Jewish and Mohamedan fables. 



SECTION IV. 



HISTORY OP THE LUTHERAN CHURCHES. 

The sun of prosperity shone in general upon the Lu- 
therans during the whole of this century. In Russia^ 
Wallachia, Poland, Austria, Geneva, and other countries 
they were allowed to erect churches and endow clergy. 
To counterbalance these circumstances, they experienced 
in several provinces of the Romano-Germanic empire, in 
Austria, Transylvania, and Poland, various vexations from 
their Roman catholic fellow subjects.* 



* Christian Mueudenius minister at Frankfort, having republished in 1737, the 
Articles of Smaleald, for the purpose of explaining them before an ecclesias- 
tical assembly, was fined in the sum of twenty merks. and summoned to ap- 
pear before the Aulic council- He died while his cause was yet pending; and 
the protestant princes procured an article to be inserted in the capitulation 
made with Charles VII., providing for the liberty of editing protestant books 
of faith, 



110 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

The Confession of Augsburgh contains the general 
creed of all the Lutheran churches, and has received the 
ample comments of the learned.* The Form of Con- 
cord, has never been universally received as a formula, 
and even some of its old friends have declined in their 
attachment. Many churches have their own peculiar 
confessions of faith ; and it has become a subject of com- 
plaint among many judicious divines, that deviation from 
the ancient strictness has degenerated into a reprehensi- 
ble laxity on subjects of doctrine and belief. Several of 
the Lutheran churches in this century exercised the right 
they claim with respect to rites and ceremonies, by abolish- 
ing several, and instituting others. In 1738, the ceremony 
of exorcism was abrogated throughout Holsatia and Sles- 
wick. The private confession of sins before reception 
of the Lord's Supper, was left in east Friesland, Branden- 
burg, and Brunswick, to the judgment of every man. 
Private communion was abrogated in Denmark, and 
Saxe Gotha ; the rite of confirmation before reception 
of the eucharist was generally introduced ; and the 
practice of drawing the consecrated wine into the mouth 
through a gold or silver tube was in most places prohibi- 
ted. In some of the churches of Austria, the Palatinate, 
and Lindau, the liturgical books were altered, the psalm- 
ody improved, and the public worship in many respects 
greatly amended ;t while in the territory of Brandenburg, 
almost all the Lutheran churches accepted and used the 



* J. Rheinbe"k Bectrachtungen ubei lie in der Augspurgischen Confession. 
Berlin, 1773. 

t For these and other particulars see a work entitled Etwasvon der Litur 
?;ie besonders der Chursachsisch Evangelischen Hal. 1778. 



CENTUEY EIGHTEENTH. 411 

privilege granted by Frederick IT. of retaining the an- 
cient ceremonies. The dispute which was carried on be- 
tween the lawyers and divines, concerning the power of 
the civil magistrate in things ecclesiastical, tended greatly 
to elicit the truth upon that subject. In some places the 
collegiate rights of the church, were transferred to the 
reigning prince ; so that by royal or civil authority, eccle- 
siastical laws and visitations were instituted, liturgies 
were altered, and even discipline extended to larger, or 
circumscribed within narrower limits. Frederick II. of 
Prussia, was desirous, that without previous dispensation, 
marriage should be permitted within all degrees not pro- 
hibited by scripture ; and the right of excluding from the 
Lord's Supper, was in 1740, taken out of the hands of 
pastors and committed to the consistories. 

Among the various institutions which indicate the pro- 
gress of science in the Lutheran church, the Orphan 
house at Halle, the universities of Gottingen,* of Erlangen, 
and of Stuttgard, stand conspicuous. From these issued a 
numerous body of learned men, who drew their pens on 
various subjects, and among others on that of a union be- 
tween the different churches of the Reformation.! The de- 
crees, however, of the Synod of Doit, still held as authorita- 
tive, in the calvinistic Reformed churches ; and the divine 



* Founded, anno 1737 ; its Theological Seminary in 1765. 

tin sacred criticism, the names of Bengel, Rambach, Ernesti, and Semler 
have been rendered illustrious. Mosheim, Frankius, Loescher, Buddeus, 
Heuman, and Walch, in dogmatic and moral theology ; Neuman, Oleariu?, the 
two Michaelis, Wolffius, Schoettgen, Carpzo and Kypke, in antiquarian 
researches and oriental learning; Ittigius, Paft\ Mosheim, Baurcgarten, and 
Weisman in ecclesiastical history, have purchased for themselves an imper- 
ishable fame. 



412 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

right of episcopacy maintained especially by the church of 
England, would necessarily have proved a barrier to this 
union. Efforts for the purpose were yet made by many 
of the Calvinistic and Lutheran divines, and their endeav- 
ors were warmly seconded by many protestant kings and 
princes. The Helvetic Form of Concord was in some of 
the cantons of Switzerland stripped of its authority, as an 
impediment to the projected union ; while in other places 
it was declared to be not a form of faith , but of doctrine. 
But the attempt to effect a union was made in vain; and the 
attention of the learned was soon diverted to other subjects. 
The controversy of the Pietists, as it was termed, occa- 
sioned much dissension in this century to the Lutheran 
church. It first originated in certain colleges of piety, 
or meetings in private houses, where persons of either sex 
were wont to assemble for religious purposes. These 
meetings, on the one hand, were highly commended by 
the celebrated Spener and others, as calculated to restore 
the declining zeal of the church ; but on the other, were 
opposed by certain learned divines, as tending to pro- 
duce a neglect of the ministry and public worship, and 
as pregnant with the seeds of separation and schism. 
Out of this there soon flowed other subjects of contro- 
versy, drawn from a work of Spener, entitled Pious De- 
sires. The first ground of difference, related to the 
knowledge which an unregenerate man might have of 
sacred things ; Spener and others maintaining, that know- 
ledge in such a man might in a certain sense be true, 
but could not be saving, without the special operation of 
the holy spirit. His adversaries granted the latter point, 
but contended that being true it might produce in 1 he 



CENTURY EIGHTEENTH. 413 

end, the sanctificatian of the man.* To this dispute were 
soon added various others ; such as that concerning the 
efficacy of an unregenerate pastor's ministry, — whether 
conversion or regeneration was the proper term for a- 
change of heart, — whether the latter term was applicable 
or not to every baptized person, — and whether the mo- 
ment of a happy change in the soul was always discerni- 
ble. The question respecting that faith which justifies, 
was of more importance perhaps than any, and was in 
proportion warmly discussed. The general notion being, 
that in the act of justification faith alone was concerned, 
Spener and his friends maintained that the accompanying 
presence of good works was absolutely necessary to sal- 
vation. It was also made a ground of warm and anxious 
debate whether or how far worldly amusements, such as 
dancing and scenic representations, were permissible 
among Christians. Hanneken and others, in opposition 
(o Spener, pronounced the symbolical books of the church 
to be free from all error, and to be subscribed, because 
they agreed with the word of God. The more cor- 
rect sentiment, however, that they ought to be subscribed 
as far as they agreed with scripture, more generally pre- 
vailed. Such were the principal subjects of the contro- 
versy, distinguished as that of the Pietists. There were 
others also, that owed their origin to these. John Boesse, a 
deacon of Sorow, endeavored in a small treatise to demon- 
strate, that in the course of every man's life, there was 3, 
period beyond which the grace of God was not to be be- 



* The language of Prudentius, {i Jidem minutis dissecant a7nbagibtis" vta 
w€lj applied to the dispute. 

35 



414 ECCXESIASTCAL HISTORY. 

stowed. The divines of Wittemberg, opposed the doc- 
trine as inimical to the divine mercy, and the Lutheran 
church is still agitated by the various combatants who 
enlist themselves on either side. Petersen raised the 
flame of contention concerning the salvation of mankind, 
which he held would be finally accorded to all. The ce- 
lebrated philosophy of W olfius being charged by Lang, 
its author's colleague, with a direct tendency to atheism , 
was ably advocated by Wyttenbach and other veteran 
scholars, and after a full examination acquitted of the 
charge. Oeder, and the famous Semler, denied the claim 
of the Apocalypse to be considered as an inspired 
book, and attributed it not to St. John, but to the here- 
tic Cerinthus. A similar denial, in a work of Vogel, 
with regard to the books of Esther, Ezra, Nehemiah, and 
the last nine chapters of Ezekiel, called forth an able de- 
fence of them from various hands, and an answer to that 
defence from Semler.* A case of supposed demoniacal 
possession and some attempts which were made to exor- 
cise the evil spirit, gave occasion to Semler for calling 
in question all possessions of that sort, and even denying 
the reality of those spoken of in scripture. The contro- 
versy on the subject rose to no inconsiderable height : 
but faded before that which was carried on concerning the 
satisfaction of Christ. Other disputes carried on in the 



* Reus, Schmid, and Knittel, argued ably for the claim of St. John to the 
Apocalypse, and the position of Semler that no book should be allowed to 
form a part of the sacred volume which was not essential to promote a holy 
life, was vigorously attacked, as tending to unsettle the whole canon of 
scripture. 



CENTURY EIGHTEENTH. 415 

Lutheran church, the nature of the present work, com- 
pels us to pass in silence.* 



SECTION V. 

HISTOEY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 

That portion of the Protestant world, which we have 
chosen to consider under this appellation, enjoyed in this 
century its full share of prosperity, and received conti- 
nual augmentations. Multitudes of the Huguenots or 
Protestants of France, after the revocation of the edict 
of Nantz, retired to the free enjoyment of their religion 
in various parts of Germany, where they were cordially 
welcomed by the princes of Brandenburgh, Saxony, 
Brunswick, Hanover, Hesse, and Wertemburg. A large 
body of the descendants of the Bohemians and Hussites 
emigrated from their country, anno 1726, and were al- 
lowed to build a place of public worship at Berlin. The 
subjugation of Silesia to the crown of Prussia, anno 
1742, removed from the members of the Reformed church 
those restrictions which had existed, from the year 1675, 
notwithstanding the solicitations of the princes of Bran- 
denburgh and the king of England. In Bohemia, Moravia, 
and all the Austrian provinces, they experienced the fa- 
vor of the emperor Joseph II. ; while in Denmark, Rus- 
sia, and at iength Sweden, they were allowed, in the 



* it may be well however to add, that the nature of the sin against the Holy 
Spirit, — the ileep of the soul alter deatn. — the question whether Christ and his 
apostles did not adopt a different mode of expression for the ignorant and the 
iearned,— and the propriety of private confession and absolution formed the 
grounds of ether cojstroneraies* 



116 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

year 1748, the privilege of building churches, and thr 
free exercise of their worship. 

All species of knowledge, and particularly that relating 
to the scriptures, received fresh lustre from the labors of 
the learned. Christianity was vindicated against the ca- 
vils of infidels, and great pains were bestowed upon re- 
storing the integrity of the sacred text.* The principal 
subjects of Christian theology were handled with great 
ability, and many excellent works on practical holiness., 
were written and circulated with a zeal becoming the 
subject. In England, especially, numerous institutions 
established for pious purposes distributed, gratuitously, 
the scriptures, and other books well calculated to pro- 
mote the true interests of religion. 

Under John William elector Palatine, the affairs of the 
Reformed church suffered various injuries, until, anno 
1705, in a particular treaty with Frederick 1. of Prussia, 
the Palatinate Reformed church was placed in security, 
though with no inconsiderable loss of its ecclesiastical 
revenues.! On the death of John William, in 1716, his 
successor Charles Philip resolved to suppress the Palatine 
catechism, and abolish its eightieth question relative to 
the doctrine of the mass. The constancy and zeal, how- 
ever, of several princes, procured, in the year 1720, the 
restoration of this symbol of faith in all its parts, and a 
great degree of its former prosperity was enjoyed bv 



* The labors of Mill, Kennicott, and Wetstein, are well known. 

fOf the ecclesiastical revenues, two-sevenths belonged legally to the Ro- 
man catholics ; and of the remainder, the Lutherans inequitably demanded . 
ind obtained for the sake of peace, alike apportionment. 



CENTURY EIGHTEENTH. 41 1 

the Reformed church throughout the dominions of the 
Elector. The English and Belgic exiles in Frankfort 
upon the Maine, after various fortunes, were prohibited 
from re-building their place of public worship, which 
had been unexpectedly burnt to the ground. A public 
deputation to the emperor, and every effort of these 
religionists, supported by the imperial decrees and the 
letters of the king of Prussia, proved entirely ineffec- 
tual ; nor were they ever restored to the privileges 
enjoyed in a former century. Of the widely extended 
communion we have chosen to consider under the 
title of Reformed church, those in Germany acknow- 
ledge the authority of the Augsburgh confession, and 
receive as a symbolical book the catechism of Heidle- 
berg. In the Palatinate, Hesse, the duchy of Cleves, 
and some other neighboring countries, the decrees of 
the synod of Dort are considered the standard of faith ; 
but in Brandenburgh, the confession of the elector Sigis- 
inund, and the conferences of Leipsic and Thorn are of 
greatest authority. The Swiss still adhere in general to 
their ancient confessions, but the church of Geneva has 
lamentably fallen from its former faith and practice. In 
federated Belgium, the synod of Dort has not yet lost its 
influence by any public decree, but many of the ablest 
divines are by no means favorable to the rigid doctrines 
of predestination, and the points in connexion with it. 
The same remark will apply to Poland, Hungary, and 
Transylvania ; but in Scotland, the Presbyterians adhere 
with the utmost tenacity to their old and iong established 
confession of faith. In riles and ceremonies, all the 
branches of the Reformed cjiurch claim a strong affinity 
3o* 



418 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, 

to apostolic practice. About the beginning of the cen- 
tury, the French and English churches adopted a new 
version of the psalms of David in their public worship. 
In the countries of Berne, Schaphausen, and the Tyrol, 
some reformation was effected in church music, and the 
more frequent celebration of the Lord's Supper. In many 
churches of Germany, the sacred hymns were amend- 
ed ; especially after the period when ZollikorTer intro- 
duced a liturgy at Leipsic, which was generally adopted. 
It is however to be observed, that throughout the Reformed 
churches great latitude is used in the rites and ceremo- 
nies of the church except where the law has been ex- 
pressly laid down by Christ and his apostles.* No age 
has more abounded in learned and literary institutions, 
than the eighteenth century. At its opening, the Carte- 
sian disputed the palm of victory, with the Aristotelian 
philosophy. Afterwards, however, Wolfius became the 
leader and lawgiver in philosophy to the Germans, and 
especially to the Swiss, as the writings of Wyttenbach, 
Stosch, and Stapfer, sufficiently demonstrate. In philo- 
sophy and criticism, — in history, and especially that part of 
ft which relates to the church, — in the interpretation of the 
sacred volume, — in systematic theology , — and lastly in sa- 
cred eloquence, there were not a few whose names will 
be remembered with respect and veneration.! 



* See preface. 

f The most conspicuous of those who shone in the first of these branches.. 
were Alb. Schultens, Con.Ikenius, Trommius, De Hase, Hottinger, Des Vig- 
aolle, Eisner, the t\ro Jablonskis, Joh. G. Michaelis, Pelloutier, Breitinger, 
Grabe, Scrhoeder, (and to mention at the same time the English,) Potter, Cum- 
berland, Mill, Kennicott, and Lowth. The ecclesiastical historians were the 



CENTURY EIGHTEENTH. 419 

The Arminian controversy, which in the former cen- 
tury had convulsed the Netherlands, now for the most 
part lay dormant in that country, except where a few di- 
vines, professing to be Calvinists, were suspected of a 
contrary doctrine. Among these in particular was An- 
thony Van-Der-Os, who in 1749. was charged with erro- 
neous notions concerning faith and the imputation of 
Adam's sin, which leaned to the doctrines of Arminius : 
and also with erroneous tenets on the subject of the holy 
Trinity. Os defended himself from the charges laid 
against him, in such a manner, that not only some of his 
colleagues, but the two celebrated divines, Van Den Ho- 
nert, and Schultens, pronounced his acquittal. The cler- 
gy of Transylvania w r ere, however, of another mind, 
Os was degraded by a synodal decree and excommuni- 
cated, and after various fortunes at last joined the Ana- 
baptists. But we are not to suppose that the Arminians 
or Romanstrants, remained generally the same, with 
those who under Arminius, opposed the five doctrinal 
points established at the council of Dort. Their public 
rites and ecclesiastical government are agreeable to the 
model of the Reformed church in the Netherlands. 
They have at Amsterdam, a gymnasium, in which we 



two Basnages, Lenfant, Beausobre, Campe T Cave, Burnett, Prideaux,GerdeE 
and Dodwell. The sacred expositors and systematic theologians, wwe Vi- 
tringa, Leideker, Vanalphen, Lanesse, Van Till, Kirchmeir, Pictet, Joh. Alph. 
Turrettin, Venema, Wytternbach, Abbadie, Saurin, Bull, Wake, Durham, 
Locke,, Waterland, Smalbroke, Chandler, Kidder, Berriman, Gibson, Benson. 
Taylor, Trapp, Jon. Edwards, Stackhouse, Lardner, Whiston, Sam. Clarke, 
I.eiand Hoadley, and Zach. Pearce. Of sacred eloquence the principal orna 
merits were Saurin, Chatelain, Lenfant, Beausobre, Osterwald, Jablonskl ? Eis- 
ner, Watts, Doddridge, and Seeker.. 



\2Q ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

meet with the names of Limborch, Caitenburg, Wetsteiu. 
and Balk. 

The dispute between the followers of Cocceius and 
Voetius was for some time renewed by the imprudence 
of Joncourt, the pastor of the French church at the Ha- 
gur. He was silenced by the learning of Van Till, and 
other Cocceian divines, nor did the controversy ever be- 
come the occasion of a schism. It still continued cus- 
tomary, notwithstanding there was now but little occa- 
sion for the measure, since the decease of Roel, to en- 
join on the several delegates to the Synods, the exter- 
mination of the errors of that theologian. Lampe a di- 
vine of Utrecht, was censured for distinguishing between 
the natural, and economical filiation, of the second per- 
son in the Trinity, and for maintaining, that Christ, by 
reason of the former was called ^oyio/sv^^, or only be- 
gotten, and on account of the latter, <Jt^r or oxog or first 
born. The authority of the Form of Concord having 
lost ground in Geneva and Basil, the theologians of Berne 
endeavored in 1717* to enforce it as the established 
rule of faith throughout Lausanne. By the active in- 
terposition of the kings of Prussia and England, and of 
Wake archbishop of Canterbury, it was at length de- 
clared to be not a formula of faith, but of doctrine, and 
as such not to be publicly impugned or called in ques- 
tion. It would be in vain to enumerate the different 
champions who appeared in the course of this century, 
to combat on the ample field which was furnished by the 
controversy respecting particular election, and the uni- 
versal grace of God. The conversion of Anthony Drea* 
a Lutheran clergyman at Groningen, with forty of his 



CENTURY EIGHTEENTH. 121 

congregation to the cause of the Calvinists, drew forth a 
strong array of opponents ; and, when Andreas Huszt 
had embraced in Transylvania, the doctrine of the uni- 
versal extent of the grace of God, two separate synods, 
in 1742, and 1746, on examining his theses, confirmed 
the dogma of election, or special grace, as laid down in 
those confessions which were generally received in that 
country. But, perhaps the most momentous disputes 
which belong to the present age, were those raised con- 
cerning the agreement of reason and faith, and those in 
relation to the origin of evil. In an Historico-critical 
dictionary, Peter Bane had denied that the account 
given in Scripture respecting the fall of man and the 
eternal punishment of the wicked, was reconcileable 
with reason, unless by an adoption of the double prin- 
ciple of the Manicheans. In opposing the error of 
Baile, LeClerc diverged into the system of Origen con- 
cerning the final restoration of the damned. His argu- 
ments, though ingenious, were unequal to the defeat of 
his learned antagonist, and it was left to the illustrious 
Leibnitz, in his work Theodicea, to satisfy the learned^ 
and among them Wolfius, of the weakness and unsound- 
ness of Baile's opinions.* Paul Maty, a catechist of 
the church at the Hague, excited a fresh controversy on 
the subject of the Trinity. He maintained, that the 
Son and Spirit were brought forth from all eternity by 
God, but were at some particular period most closely 
united to the Father, and were hence one God with the 



* See archbishop King on the origin of evil* 



122 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

Father, and although of a finite nature, were properly 
called God. After various controversies, his cause was 
at last brought to a trial, anno 1730, and although he 
protested against the decree of his judges, and gained 
many defenders, he was excommunicated by the synod 
of Hague, until he should return to a better mind. Fre- 
derick Van Leenhoff, a minister at Zwoll in Holland, 
having published a book in his native tongue, entitled 
Heaven upon Earth* was deposed from his station and 
ministerial office, as maintaining in agreement with the 
notions of Spinosa, that all events and the operations of 
all created things, took place by an inevitable and im- 
mutable necessity. To the errors of LeenhorTmay be 
joined those of the followers of Van Hatt and Verscho- 
ren, who, among other things, said, that the satisfaction 
of Christ delivered men from all fear of committing sin, — 
that prayer for its remission was therefore unnecessary, — 
and that a state of tranquillity was all it was desirable that 
man should attain. The eloquent Marmontel, in his 
Belesarius, incurred the censure not only of the Roman 
Catholics, and the doctors of the Sorbonne, but also of 
all the Protestants, who reject the doctrine of universal 
grace, by the unqualified assertion, that the city of God 
consisted of all good men, even of the Gentiles who cul- 
tivated justice and the other virtues. The doctrine of 
eternal punishment inflicted on the evil, was called in 
question by Peter Pierre ; and Thomas Burnet an En- 
glishman, in his well known work de statu inortuorum&e- 
clared his preference of the term indefinite, rather than 
infinite, as applicable to that punishment. In 1772 ? 



CENTURY EIGHTEENTH. 423 

die magistrates of Turiu having ordered a new version of 
the Scriptures, to which was appended an ample index, 
both the version and the index, but especially the latter, 
were warmly animadverted upon by the professors and 
pastors of the academy and church of Berne. At their 
particular desire, and after various letters passing be- 
tween the parties, the theologians of Turin enlarged and 
amended, though they would not expunge the obnoxious 
and faulty index.* The limits of a compend compel us 
to pass over minor subjects of discussion. 

The established church of England, which has justly 
acquired the character of the noblest ornament of the 
Reformation, continues in very nearly the state in which 
she was left at the accession of William III. Her divines 
are all required to sign the well known standard of 
faith included in her thirty-nine articles. This is perhaps 
performed more readily and universally, from the liberty 
which is claimed by most of the clergy, of interpreting 
it according to the sense of the holy scriptures and 
sound reason, or in other words we may say, according to 
the utmost latitude its language will permit.! The efforts 
of king William to effect a union between the Episco- 
palians on the one hand, and the Presbyterians and Inde- 
pendents on the other, proved entirely abortive ; and the 
prospects of such an union seemed still more remote, when 
several statutes were enacted in the reign of queen Anne 
against all non-conformists. Those who now enjoy lib- 



* The index was charged with a leaning to Socinlanism. 
f See Rumut on xxxix articles. It may also be observed that the Book of 
"omraon Prayer and the Homiles, are considered as the standard of "faith." 



124 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

erty of conscience, and the exercise of their religion arc 
notwithstanding excluded from certain offices under 
government. The English Episcopalians are divided into 
those who look upon episcopacy to be of divine right, 
and those who believing it decidedly ihe best form of 
government, refuse not the title of a true church to those 
christian assemblies which are either necessarily or vol- 
untarily without it. The English Presbyterians, in 1719, 
freed their members from any subscription of confession 
or articjes of faith, but those of Scotland, while inclin- 
ing to the doctrine of universal grace, still adhere to 
their long established confession. The great subjects of 
dispute among Episcopalians themselves related to the 
doctrine of passive obedience and the rights of the 
church. The rigid Episcopalians and the political fac- 
tion called Tories maintained, that resistance to lawful 
magistrates was inadmissable under any circumstances. 
The milder churchmen and presbyterians, with the poli- 
ticians called Whigs, held the lawfulness of resistance 
when the constitution was infringed. The former doc- 
trine was preached in 1709 by Atterbury dean of Car- 
lisle, and the famous doctor Sacheverell in a discourse of 
false brethren carried the principle to the utmost length. 
The cause of Sacheverell was popular, but his book was 
burnt by an order from the house of Commons, and his 
sentiments fell under the lash of Bishop Hoadley. The 
controversy concerning the rights of the church, pro- 
ceeded pari passu with that on passive obedience. 
The defenders of the latter doctrine, refusing to swear 
allegiance to the prince of Orange, (William III.) on 
ihe ground of his unlawful usurpation of the throne of 



CENTURY EIGHTEENTH. 425 

James II. were according!}' deprived of their civil privi- ' 
leges and ecclesiastical revenues. The cause of these 
non-jurors was undertaken by many very learned men, 
especially by Henry Dodwell, historic professor at Ox- 
ford, who denied the power of princes to drive from 
their sees the bishops, the vicars of Christ. Tindal 
answered the work of Dodwell in another, which the 
parliament ordered to be burnt. Hoadley bishop of 
Winchester drew his pen on the same side, and in 
1717? published a treatise on the nature and character 
of the kingdom of Christ. His doctrines went so far, 
as to deny that there were any vicegerents of Christ 
upon earth, or that any ecclesiastical regulations or 
ordinances were necessary to human salvation. De- 
fended by Sykes, Jackson, Whitby and the court, 
Hoadley was enabled to bid defiance to the weapons of 
the renowned polemics Snape, Stebbing, and Law, and 
we may add to the indignation of the great body of the 
English clergy. In speaking of the non-juring bishops, 
we ought not to pass over an important event connect- 
ed with their history. The solemn league and covenant 
of 163 8, had been fatal alike to monarchy and episco- 
pacy in Scotland. But immediately after the restoration 
of king Charles II. a sufficient number of bishops were 
consecrated for that part of the British dominions. 
Once more however on the expulsion of the house of 
Stuart from the throne, the clouds darkened over the 
prospects of the Scottish episcopal church. Her bishops 
with many of their brethren in England refused to take 
the oath of allegiance to a monarch they looked on as an 
\ 36 



126 ECCLESIASTICAL IIISTOKV. 

usurper, and hence, in combination with other cans 
an act was passed in 1689, for abolishing prelacy. Un- 
der these unhappy circumstances, the bishops still con- 
tinued to perpetuate their own order, without asking 
permission from either the exiled or reigning prince.* 
But they naturally became involved in the charge 
of aiding the house of Stuart in their attempts upon 
England to recover the crown, and during the succes- 
sive reigns of Anne, and the two Georges, especially in 
the years 1746 and 1748, both the clergy and laity 
felt the influence and rigour of various prohibitory acts. 
The death of prince Charles Edward, in 1788, and the 
station of his brother the cardinal of York in the Ro- 
mish communion, induced the members of the Scottish 
church to tender their allegiance to the reigning house 
of Brunswick, — a step which was immediately followed, 
anno 1792, by the repeal of the penal laws enacted 
against them. Previous to this agreeable and import- 
ant event, the Scottish bishops had the honor of in- 
troducing the episcopal succession in America. The 
revolution in that country which separated the fairest 
of the British provinces from the parent land, having 
dissolved the connexion which had hitherto subsisted 
between the episcopal people of the United States, and 
the bishop of London, the clergy of Connecticut took 
measures for continuing what they considered the valid 
succession of ministerial offices. Dr. Samuel Seabury 
was accordingly sent to England, with the proper at- 



Skinner's Primitive Truth and Older, p. 381 



CENTURY EIGHTEENTH. 12? 

uions, to procure in his own person the episcopal 
character. The English bishops from political mo- 
£ves paused upon so important a measure, and Dr. 
Seabury with n full understanding of his case on the 
part of the Scotch bishops, was regularly consecrated 
at Aberdeen, by three of their number on the 14th of 
November, 17 84. Two years after (to close the history 
of these events) the British parliament passed an act, 
in 1786, to empower the archbishop of Canterbury or 
York, to " consecrate citizens not of his majesty's do- 
minions/"' In consequence of this, Dr. White, elected 
for Pennsylvania, and Dr. Provost of New-York,* re- 
ceived the episcopal character at Lambeth from the 
archbishop of Canterbury, assisted by his brother of 
York, and the bishops of Bath and Peterborough. The 
church thus established in America, it may be observed, 
differs in nothing essential from the parent church in 
England. The Homilies, the thirty-nine articles, and 
the book of Common prayer, are held in both churches, 
as the standard of Faith.f 



* Dr. Griffith was also chosen for Virginia, but died before consecration. 
Dr. Madison was elected for the same state and consecrated in England. 
See Journal of General Convention aiui Bishop White's Memoirs. 

t The first edition of the American liturgy, called " the proposed book," 
adopted alterations suggested in 1G£9. in England, by several learned divine?. 
It reduced the articles to twenty, omitted tMe Athanasian creed, the article of 
Christ's descent into Hell, the Thanksgiving of Women, and the Commination. 
altered in some respects the Burial service, aud changed the proper lessons. In 
the second edition, ratified in General Convention 1789, at the particular re- 
quest of the two English Archbishops, the article of Christ's descent into 
Hell, the Apostles' creed, am3 the Thanksgiving of women after childbirth, 
were restored ; but the oblation and invocation usedinthe Scotch Comtnuniori 
:/fice were adopted. The "Form of prayer for the visitation of prisoners," 
the'" Form of prayer and thanksgiving to be used on the 1st Thursday in 
Xovcmber," are retained from the tirst edition. 



1 2 8 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

Among the numerous controversies which arose in 
the chureh of England, that concerning the Sacred Tri- 
nity, on account of its nature, claims a conspicuous 
place. Dr. Samuel Clarke, a very able and learned 
divine, in his Scripture Doctrine of the Trinity, had 
explained that important subject in a manner different 
from that of most orthodox divines. The Father, ac- 
cording to him, was alone the supreme and independent 
Deity. With the Father, from the beginning, existed two 
divine persons, the Son, and Holy Spirit. The Son had 
not a self-existence, but derived his being and divinity 
from the Father, as supreme cause, whether however 
from necessity of nature, or from the pleasure of the 
paternal will, was not so clear from the holy scriptures. 
The Holy Spirit, in the same manner, agreeably to this 
hypothesis, derived his existence from the Father 
through the Son, but the mode of his existence was not 
explained in the Word of God. This species of sub- 
ordination in the three persons of the Trinity, was 
severely reprehended by Waterland, Sir Richard Black- 
more, Jones, and others. Clarke was summoned to an- 
swer the charge of Arianism, before a convocation of 
die Clergy, but so defended himself and cause, that his 
judges pronounced his acquittal.* On the nature of the 
Lord's Supper, Bishop Hoadley, in his plain account 
of that sacrament, gave offence, by denying that in it 



* The well known Dr. Watts, in 1739, wrote a book to prove the pretexts 
Lence of the soul of Jesus Christ, as of a very holy spirit, in a certain divine 
^lory, so however, as to be reconcileable with his divinity. His book occo. 
ioned some noise and some controversy. 



CENTURY EIGHTEENTH. 42$ 

i bore was any presence and participation of the body 
and blood of the Lord, any seal of divine grace or re- 
newed covenant with God ; in a word, any thing more 
than the mere memorial of a dead benefactor. The 
celebrated champion of the rights of bishops, Henry 
Dodwell, adopting a singular opinion concerning the 
immortality of the soul, called forth the rebukes of Mill, 
Turner, Clarke, and Whitby. In Dodwell's opinion, 
the soul of man created mortal, became immortal by a 
union with the Spirit of God. This immortality be- 
ing lost by the fail of Adam, could only be restored 
by repentance, faith, and the baptism of an episcopal 
church. The souls of unbaptized infants, nay, of adult 
Jews, Turks, and Infidels, live not for ever, but pass 
after death into the place of disembodied spirits, where 
they are happy or miserable according to their works, 
till the day of final judgment, when they are all de- 
stroyed. On the other hand, the souls of those who 
have been episcopally baptized,* if obedient to the 
gospel by the grace of the holy spirit, enjoy eternal 
happiness, but if disobedient, are doomed to eternal mi- 
sery. Christ, agreeably to the same scheme, preached 
the gospel to the Jews in Hades, and baptized some of 
them, as did his apostles also baptize the Gentiles in 
the same abode. The doctrine of original sin found 
about the same time many opposers, but none so able 
as Daniel Whitby. Confronted, however, by the uni- 
versality of human corruption, this divine laid it down 



* Subsequent communion with the e » scopal church remedied invalid bap- 
tism. See an Ep» discourse, Lond. 1706. 

36* 



430 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

as the basis of his scheme, that after the human race- 
had become obnoxious to death through sin, they ad- 
dicted themselves, from a dread of that evil, to a love 
of life and a too great fondness for worldly and sensu- 
al joys. Hence arises the guilt of mankind, — a guilt 
which unhappily becomes greater and stronger from the 
circumstance, that the human race are not born adult, but 
commence their state of probation at an age which is 
peculiarly liable to outward and worldly impressions.* 
A lively, and not uninteresting dispute, on the subject 
of the demoniacs mentioned in scripture, was carried 
on between several eminent scholars. The notion of 
these demoniacs' being only diseased persons was 
maintained on the one hand by Sykes, its originator, by 
Farmer, and perhaps by Lardner, and that of their being 
really possessed with devils supported on the other by 
Church, Hutchinson, and the renowned Warburton. 
This extraordinary genius indeed embarked in almost 
all the theological disputes of the day, and was him- 
self, by the eccentricity of his mind united to a profound 
degree of learning, the occasion of many controversies, 
especially by his well known Divine Legation of Moses. 
In that work he had defended the inspired character of 
the prophet, under the following scheme. No republic 
or religion, according to the bishop, can subsist without 
a belief in the doctrine of rewards and punishments af- 
ter death. Where this is wanting, there must be an ex- 



* His opponent, and as is generally thought, his victorious opponent, av^- 
Jonathan L'dvards. Doctrine of original sin vindicated, Lond. 1711, and Whit 
hy's insver 1712. 



CENTURY EIGHTEENTH. 431 

traordinary interposition of divine providence to sustain 
such republic or religion. But the people of Israel, 
and perhaps even Moses himself, were ignorant of fu- 
ture retribution, and consequently were under the im- 
mediate protection of God. From this rapid outline 
of Warburton's views, it will not be wondered at that 
he should raise a host of opponents, who, though struck 
with admiration of his masterly genius, and astonishing 
erudition, could not but perceive the ground which his 
book really afforded the Deists against whom it was 
directed, and it may also be added, could not but de- 
tect the fallacy of its reasonings.* As conspicuous in 
controversy, the name of Conyers Middleton may be 
fairly joined to that of Warburton, who experienced 
in him an adversary by no means to be despised. He 
first contested the point against that illustrious scholar, 
in favor of the opinion, that the Romish church drew 
her multitude of ceremonies from the pagan idolatiy. 
But this was not the only or principal arena on which 
Middleton appeared. Against Le Moine, Church, and 
others, he for a long time maintained, that miracles ut- 
terly ceased after the death of the apostles.j In an- 
swer to the admirable work of Sherlock, bishop of Lon- 
don, entitled Use and Intent of Prophecy, Middleton 
also maintained, that the argument for the truth of the 
Christian religion drawn from the prophecies of the Old 



* Anion? -Vat-burton's opponents were Stebbing, Leland, and Jorlin. 
f In a posthumous work he so far changed his first opinion, as to grant the occa- 
sional performance of miracles after the age of the apostles, though no con 
slant power of working them remained in the church, 



i32 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

Testament, was stronger than that derived from mira- 
cles. To this brief enumeration of the controversies 
of the English theologians, we may add that there are 
subjects on which the majority seem to agree, though 
not considered properly as articles of faith. Amongst 
these, is the opinion, that there is to be a general con- 
version of the Jews, and restoration to the land of Ca- 
naan ; that after death, the soul passes into a middle 
state ; and that this middle state is to the righteous souls, 
the paradise of the scriptures, and bosom of Abraham, 
and was the place to which Christ went between his 
death and resurrection, called in the creed the descent 
into Hades. 

But of all the disputes which arose in England, none 
was of a more serious character, than that excited by a 
new sect formed in the very heart of the established 
church. John and Charles Wesley, two students of 
Oxford, becoming zealous in what they believed the de- 
clining cause of piety, formed, in the year 1729, with 
the consent of their bishop, a society for the purpose of 
visiting the sick, and encouraging one another in a life 
of holiness. They communed every Sunday, kept the 
fast days of the church with the utmost strictness, and 
affected the greatest regularity in their religious pro- 
ceedings. From this latter circumstance they received 
the name of 31ethodists. In 1732, the brothers were 
joined by Whitfield, who soon became distinguished for 
his remarkable eloquence. John Wesley, for the pur- 
pose of preaching the gospel to the ministry of which 
he had been episcopally ordained, passed over to Ame- 
rica ? and was shortly after followed by Whitfield to 



CENTURY EIGHTEENTH. 433 

that country, where the Methodists formed for a time, 
and a short time only, an alliance with the Herrnhuters. 
On their return to Great Britain, Whitfield in Bristol; 
principally, and the two Wesleys in London, inflamed 
the religious fervor of vast multitudes to whom they 
preached in private houses, barns, and sometimes the 
open fields. The irregularities of these men, however 
good their intentions, gave offence to the proper eccle- 
siastical authorities ; and the conduct of the elder Wes- 
ley in ordaining bishops for America, while himself but 
a presbyter, created a schism which has never been 
healed, and which yet divides the Methodists from that 
branch of the church in America, which, though to- 
tally unconnected in a civil point of view with Great 
Britain, derives as we have seen, her lawful episco- 
pal succession through the bishops of that country. 
The Methodists generally profess to acknowledge the 
doctrines contained in the xxxix. articles of the church 
of England, but Wesley altered some of them. The 
doctrine of justification through the merits of Christ 
alone was warmly proclaimed from the pulpits of this 
sect. On the subject of a new birth, and the neces- 
sity of a renewal of the heart of every man before sal- 
vation is attainable, the Methodists have also exercised 
their evangelical zeal. Both Wesley and Whitfield 
professed to be immediately directed by the holy spirit^ 
and encouraged in their hearers the outward and often 
violent expressions of their inward feelings, during the 
celebration of divine worship. This species of fana- 
ticism was highly offensive to the clergy and learned 
men of Great Britain^ but their followers have notwith- 



434 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

standing been always numerous in that country, and in 
America they have in a few years astonishingly in- 
creased. In 1741, the great schism* commenced be- 
tween Whitfield and Wesley, on the subject of the di- 
vine decrees : the former assuming the Calvinistic, and 
the latter the Arminian hypothesis.! 

In closing the history of the church of England, it 
may not be improper to annex as brief an account as 
our limits permit, of that branch of the church, known 
under the appellation of Herrnhuters, or Evangelical 
brethren of the Augsburgh Confession. Several piously 
disposed persons, during their flight from religious 
persecution in Bohemia, had settled on the farm of 
Nicholas Lewis,J Count of ZinzendorfF. This emi- 
nent nobleman, relinquishing his political and other en- 
gagements, joined himself in the year 1732 to their so- 
ciety, and being afterwards ordained a minister among 
them, bent all the energies of his mind, to promote their 
interest. Prepossessed in favor of the discipline and insti- 
tutes of the Bohemians, he demanded from the theo- 
logical faculty of Tubingen, whether the Moravian 



* In 1791, Mr. Kelham created a schism by attempting to introduce a repre- 
sentation of the people »n meetings of conference. He was unanimously ex- 
pelled the Connexion by all the other preachers except two. 

f If the Methodists have been productive of some good, their enthusiasm 
has led them into many errors. They are too apt to magnify common events 
into miracles. Their fixing the moment of conversion endangers presumption 
on the one hand, or distracting fears on the other; while their system of itine- 
rancy and circulation of preachers, encourages a superficial religion instead of 
Christian edification. 

\ Called Hcrrnhuth, whence the name of the society. 



CENTURY EIGHTEENTH. 435 

Brethren, could be allowed a union with the Lutheran 
rhurch. On a favorable reply to this important ques- 
tion, he was solemnly admitted, anno 1735, by imposi- 
tion of hands among the Moravian bishops, and from 
that period, began to lay the foundation of the flourish- 
ing state in which his society, as a genuine branch of 
the Bohemian brethren or Hussites, have since exist- 
ed. Driven from Saxony, anno 1736, by the royal man- 
date, he established himself and followers at the village 
of Hcrrnhagg, near Frankfort on the Maine. From 
this place were sent forth numerous, and as they have 
proved themselves, efficacious laborers in the gospel 
harvest, over most, and we may say all parts of the 
world.* In the course of his labors, it may be well to 
mention, that Zinzendorff procured, anno 1749? from 
archbishop Parker, and the British parliament, the ac- 
knowledgment of his claims as a lawful bishop by apos- 
tolical derivation, and of his followers as a true branch 
of the Catholic church. f The Herrnhuters admit 
among them indscriminately, the members of the Luthe- 
ran and of the Reformed church, whom they distinguish 
by the title of Tropes, to which they add a third, including 
their own body. Their standard of faith is the Augsburgh 
Confession. Their favorite appellation for our Saviour 
is that of The Lamb. They hold reason in great con- 
tempt, as a guide, when compared with faith, which they 
urge with a truly evangelical zeal, as the only mean of 



* Especially in North and South America, in the former of which countries 
f hey have a flourishing settlement at Bethlehem. 

t Zinzendorff died at his farm after a long residence in England, anno ]760. 



136 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

justification through the merits of Christ. Their elders 
have authority to contract marriages, and to choose for 
young persons the future partners of their lives. They 
acknowledge in the ministry the three orders of bishops, 
priests, and deacons, but employ the terms senior bish- 
ops and chorepiscopi in regard to certain duties assign- 
ed the bearers of these titles.* At the baptism of adults 
they use the right of exorcism, introduce the agapse 
before the sacrament, and on Easter are wont to visit at 
sunrise the tombs of their departed brethren, when the 
names of those who have died during the year are read 
from the dyptiehs or ecclesiastical tablets. 



SECTION VI. 

OF FANATICS, ENTHUSIASTS, AND HERETICS. 

It were a vain and indeed an almost endless occupa- 
tion to recount the history of all the sects who might be, 
or have been included under one or other of thtese de- 
nominations. The German Illuminati scarcely merit 
the title of religionists. To the Convulsionaries who 
exhibited their fanatical paroxysms around the tomb of 
the Abbe de Paris, we have already alluded, and the re- 
veries of the Belgic Gichtilians are scarcely worthy of 
mention. The revocation of the edict of Nantes by 
Lewis XIV. having occasioned in Languedoc no incon- 



* They have also deaconesses as in the primitive church, and elemosynary 
curators. 



CENTURY EIGHTEENTH. 437 

>iderable rebellion, the king was unwillingly compelled 
to grant its leaders a peace, under the terms of which, 
they emigrated, in 1706, to London. Renounced, as 
, pretenders to false miracles, by the French Protestants 
in that city, and ridiculed for their attempts to effect the 
resurrection of a dead body, this herd of Inspirati aban- 
doned their abode, and after wandering through almost all 
the countries of Europe, and even attempting a settlement 
at Constantinople, gradually dwindled into nothing. To 
the account already given of the Quakers in a former 
century little more need be added. In 1715, an act of 
the British parliament freed them from the obligation of 
taking an oath in courts of justice* Their numbers are 
greatest in England and America,* for in Belgium it is 
said they are rapidly declining. Some writers have ap- 
peared among them ; but unless we except Lindley, 
Martin, and Holmes, none have rendered themselves 
eminent. The sect of Anabaptists are most numerous 
in the Netherlands and England. In the latter country 
they pass under the appellation of Baptists, and indeed 
have renounced most of the errors of their progenitors 
of the sixteenth century. They are still divided into 
general and particular Baptists, the latter of whom^ 
holding the Calvinistic notions of the divine decrees, 
are much the more numerous, while the latter have in- 
cluded among them more learned men. The form of 



* At the time 1 am writing, anno 1828, there prevails among the Quakers of 
1 his country, a schism of some importance. The followers of one Elias Hicks', 
have denied, in opposition to the ancie t doctrines of the sect, the atonement 
and divinity of our Lord, and have treated the Scriptures with a peculiar de- 
gree of disrespect. 

37 



438 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

ecclesiastical government with both, is allied to that 
of the Independents. Some of them adopt the senti- 
ment that the observance of the Jewish Sabbath has not 
been abrogated, and uniting it with that of Sunday, are % 
thence denominated Sabbatarians. In the Netherlands, 
the Anabaptists are yet divided into Fine and Gross. 
The former differ from the latter principally in adhe- 
ring more strictly to the ancient confessions, in the se- 
verity of their discipline, in the washing of feet, in re- 
fusing stipends to their clergy, and denying the utility 
of a civil magistracy among Christians, or the pro- 
priety of taking arms. The Gross, which included 
the Waterlandians, and united Flamingians, though 
properly called 3Ienonites, from the veneration in which 
they hold their founder, have abandoned for the most 
part the severer features of his discipline, and differ 
among themselves on certain points of discipline, such 
as the legality of oaths and the use of arms. These 
Anabaptists or Menonites have lately addicted them- 
selves to literature, and have produced some individuals 
not unworthy of fame. In 1722, the states of Fries- 
land having determined that the Menonite divines 
should be obliged to declare their renunciation of So- 
cinian tenets, the decree was complained of as a breach 
of religious privilege. A petition was accordingly 
drawn up by Stinstra, requesting that the clergy of the 
Reformed church might not be suffered to decide upon 
the doctrines of the Menonite teachers. The only re- 
ply of the states was a confirmation to the sect of their 
ancient privileges, but at the same time, resolution 



CENTURY EIGHTEENTH. 439 

enforce the laws against disseminating Socinian 
tenets.* 

There were not wanting in this century as in others, 
those who impugned the doctrine of the Trinity. Some 
pronounced it the offspring of a too great tendency in 
the primitive Fathers to the Platonic philosophy ; while 
others, scrupled not to assert the agreement of the anti- 
nicene Fathers with the opinions of Arius. After a 
minute investigation of those writers the erudite Peta- 
vius had declared this to be his opinion, and he was fol- 
lowed by the well known Whistont professor of mathe- 
matics in the university of Cambridge. To these we 
may add the names of Emlyn a Presbyterian divine, of 
Whitby the famous commentator, of the learned Natha- 
niel Lardner, and of Clayton, bishop of Clogher, who 
supposed the Son and Holy Spirit, to be indeed created 
beings, but endowed by the Father with the attributes of 
omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence. 

The Socinians experienced in this age a variety of 
misfortunes, nor does the sect on the whole appear to 
have increased. In Poland, where was once their 
most flourishing settlement, their assemblies were dis- 
persed and their churches destroyed. In Prussia, their 
numbers had decreased, in the year 1751, to the settle- 



* Stinstra afterwards published a book on the nature of Christ's Kingdom, 
which would have been condemned in a synod of the Friesland clergy, if Vene- 
ma its president had not shewn, that though leaning to the doctrines of Soci_ 
nus, the work was not truly a Socinian publication. Stinstra was deprived cf 
his pastoral office. 

t Whiston relinquished his professorship in consequence, and being baffled 
*n his attempts to frame a society, according to his notions of the primitive 
■hurch, at length joined the Bapt'sts. 



J 40 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

merits at Rudou and Andreswald.* In Transylvania 
they enjoy certain privileges, though sometimes perse- 
cuted by the more zealous Romanists. In Switzerland, 
as we have remarked, the divines of Geneva have fallen 
under suspicion of having become tinctured with this 
heresy. In Berne, a like suspicion occasioned a visi- 
tation from the Academy of Lausanne. In England, 
the acts of parliament in the years 1695, 1714, and 
1721, against the Anti-trinitarians have not prevented 
the Socinians' maintaining their ground, and they num- 
ber among them the eminent names of a Taylor and 
a S} r kes. In 1773, Theophilus Lindsey relinquished 
his pastoral charge from a conscientious reluctance to 
repeat the Athanasian creed and certain parts of the 
Liturgy. But of those who have espoused their cause, 
no one has obtained a w r ider, or (if we respect his learn- 
ing) a more deserved fame than Joseph Priestly, who 
molifiedf however at the close of life, the sentiments 
he had sometimes too hastily given to the world. It is 
well known that the modern Socinians prefer the title 
of Unitarians, and differ it must be acknowledged in 
several particulars from their predecessors of that name ; 
but the rejection of the doctrines of original sin, of the 
trinity, and of the atonement, still constitute capital ar- 
ticles of their creed. In N. America the principal seat 
of the sect is Boston, near which they are at the head 



* Of the latter place was Samuel Crelhus, who professed however t 
ITnitariia or Artemonite rather than a Socinian 
| See his Notes.on Scripture. 



CENTURY EIGHTEENTH. 441 

of a nourishing college, and from whence they dissemi- 
nate their opinions by their writings, their preachers, 
and other means. 

The Swedenborgians, commonly so called, owe their 
origin to Emanuel Swedenborg, the son of a Swedish 
bishop. Since the death of their founder they have in- 
creased in various parts of the world, and especially in 
England. The discriminating tenets of this sect seem 
to be the following, under the title of the New Jerusalem 
Church. Holding the doctrine of one God, they maintain 
that this God is no other than Jesus Christ, and that he 
always existed in a human form ; that for the sake of re- 
deeming the world, he took upon himself a proper hu- 
man or material body, but not a human soul ; that this 
redemption consists in bringing the hells or evil spirits 
into subjection, and thereby preparing the way for a 
new spiritual church ; that without such a redemption 
no man could be saved. Though they maintain that 
there is but one God, and one divine person ; they 
hold that in this person there is a real trinity ; consist- 
ing of the divinity, the humanity, and the operation of 
them both in the Lord Jesus ; a trinity which did not 
exist from all eternity, but commenced at the Incarna- 
tion. They believe that the scriptures are to be inter- 
preted not only in a literal but in a spiritual sense, not 
known to the world, till it was revealed to Baron Swe- 
denborg, and that this spiritual sense extends to every 
part of scripture except the Acts of the apostles. They 
believe that there are angels attending upon men, re- 
siding, as Baron Swedenborg says, in their affections ; 
*3f 



442 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORr. 

that temptation consists in a struggle between good and 
bad angels within men ; and that by this means God 
assists men in their temptations, since of themselves 
they could do nothing ; that there is an universal influx 
from God into the souls of men, inspiring them espe- 
cially with the belief of the divine unity ; that there 
are two worlds, the natural and the spiritual, entirely 
distinct, though perfectly corresponding with each 
other ; that at death a man enters into the spiritual 
world, when his soul is clothed with a body, which is 
termed substantial in opposition to the present material 
body, which is never to rise out of the grave.* They 
also hold that after death a man is so little changed 
that he even does not know but that he is living in the 
present world ; that he eats and drinks, and even en- 
joys conjugal delight as in the present state of ex- 
istence ; nay, that the resemblance between the two 
worlds is so great, that in the spiritual there are ci- 
ties with palaces and houses, and every thing which is 
in the natural world ; but that in Heaven such things 
are in an infinitely more perfect state.f 



*It does not appear that on the subject of Church Government and Disci- 
pline any thing has been either recommended by Baron Swedenborg or adopt- 
ed by the receivers of his doctrines. Particular forms of prayer have been 
adopted by them in agreement with the ideas of the worshippers, as grounded in 
the religious sentimeuts above stated, especially respecting ihe Supreme Ob- 
ject of Adoration, who is acknowledged to be the Lord nnd Saviour Jesus 
Christ in his divine humanity. But in no place have any peculiar rites and 
ceremonies been introduced, the worshippers being content with retaining the 
celebration of the two sacraments of baptism and the holy supper, since no 
other rites are insisted on by the author whose testimony they receive 

f Of some insignificant and fanatical sects which have existed in N. America, 
f have thought it unnecessary even to make mention. Such, for example, is 
fhe Society denominated Shakers, who call themselves the Millennial church 



CENTURY EIGHTEENTH. 443 

To conclude — In England, and we may say in most 
other countries, the Deists, under whom we class all 
those who deny the necessity of a revelation, are evi- 
dently less numerous than in a former century. An 
institution was founded agreeably to the last will of 
Lady Mover, anno 1789, in which eight discourses are 
annually delivered in defence of the Christian religion. 
It has contributed not a little, to set forth in a clear light 
the arguments in support of the inspired word of God, to 
demonstrate that the highest powers of the human in- 
tellect may be marshalled in the cause of faith, and 
that reason may become the handmaid of revelation, 
though unable to supply its place. 



who acknowledge Ann Lee under the title of Mother, as filled with the di- 
vinity in the same manner as Christ, who consider dancing as essential to the 
proper worship of God, and who look upon the propagation of the human spe- 
cies as the highest guilt. Their principal seat is at Lebanon, 



A LIST OF THE COUNCILS. 



A. C. 

325 
381 
431 

45 J 
553 
680 
7S7 
869 



A. C 

1122 
1139 
1179 
1215 
1245 
1274 
1311 
1414 
1431 
1439 
1517 
1563 



CEcumenical Greek Councils. 

Nicene under Sylvester. 
Constantinople I. under Damasus. 
Ephesus, under Celestine. 
Chalcedon, under Leo. 
Constantinople II. under Vigilius. 
Constantinople III. under Agatho. 
Nicene II. under Hadrian I. 
Constantinople IV. under Hadrian II. 

CEcumenical Latin Councils. 

Lateran I. under Calixtus II. 

Lateran II. under Innocent II. 

Lateran III. under Alexander III, 

Lateran IV. under Innocent III. 

Lyons I. under Innocent IV. 

Lyons II. under Gregory X 

Vienna, under Clement V. 

Constance, under John XXIII. 

Basil, under Eugenius IV. 

Florence, under Eugenius IV. 

Lateran V. under Julius and Leo X. 

Trent, under Paul III. Julius HI. and Pius IV. 



A List of (Ecumenical and Provincial Councils, 
A.C. 



34 
34 
51 

*58 



Jerusalem^ in which Matthias was chosen. 

Jerusalem 2, in which Deacons were appointed. 

Jerusalem 3, in which took place the abrogation of legal 
ceremonies. 

Jerusalem 4, in which those ceremonies were under pe- 
culiar circumstances for a time permitted. 



* The council of Antiochin -which the Apostolic canons spoken of in the 2d 
council of Nice are supposed to have beeniramed is incorrectly thought to 
have been held at this time, 



1 10 LIST OF COUNCILS. 



Several Asiatic and Greek Councils were held against 

the Montanists, but their acts are lost. 
Palestine, "| Held between the Orientals and Greeks 
Pontic, | concerning the time of celebrating Kas 

Gallic, } ter. The first of these was held un- 

Osthcenum, der Theophilus, Metropolitan of Cese- 

Roma?i two,) re a. 

* Asiatic, in which Polycrates determined the Quartode- 

ciinan controversy against the church of Rome. 

* African, in which Agrippinus, Bp. of Carthage, deter- 

' mined the baptism of heretics to be invalid. 
Lambcsitan, against Privatus, a heretic. 
Philadelphia, against Beryilus. 
Arabia against the Arabs, who asserted that the soul died 

and arose with the body. 
Rome, in favor of the penitents, who, in time of perse 

cution,had sacrificed to idols. 
Carthage id. 
Rome id. 

Rome against the Novatians. 
Rome id. 

Carthage id. and in favor of the lapsed. 

African, on ecclesiastical discipline. 
Rome, baptism of heretics allowed. 
African 2, against two bishops convicted of being libel- 

latici. 

* Iconiiim, condemning the baptism of heretics. 

* Carthage, three, in which Cyprian upholds the error 

of re-baptization. 
Neoccesarea on ec. discipline. 
Rome, Dionysius of Alexandria condemned for not only 

distinguishing but dividing the persons of the trinity 
Antioch 1, against Paul of Samozata for making Christ a 

mere man. 
Antioch 2. id. 

Sinuessa. 
Eliberis (in Spain) severe against the lapsed. 

* Cyrta, held by libellatici bishops. 

* Carthage 1, held by Donatists. 

* Carthage 2. id. 

Rome, in which Ca3cilianus was acknowledged, and Do 

natus was condemned. 
Aries against the Donatists. 
Ancyra, in which the degrees of penitence required from 

the lapsed were settled. 



Those marked thns are disowned by the Roman Catholic?. 



LIST OF COUNCILS, 14/ 

\. c. 

314 Neoccesarea on ec. discipline. 

315 Rome, against the Jews. 
315 Alexandria, against Arius. 

319 Alexandria 2, against Melitians and Sabellians. 

320 Laodicea, on ec discipline. 

324 Gangrenum (in Paphlagonia) id. 

324 Ro?ne, on restoring the Church's peace (suppositions, 

325 NICE I, con;oked by the Emperor Constantine. Ozius, 

bishop of Cordova, was president. Arianism wa- 
condemned by 318 bishops, and the time of celebra- 
ting Easter was settled. 

325 Rome, on ec. discipline. 

335 Tyre, against Athanasius. 

335 Jerusalem, held by the Eusebians in favor of the Arians. 

336 Constantinople, by Arians. 

337 Rome against the Arians. 

339 Alexandria,by the Catholic bishops in favor of Athanasius. 
341 Antioch against the former council. 

341 I Rome 2, in which Athanasius was vindicated. 

342 ! Rome 3, in which Athanasius was acquitted. 
344 J * Antioch, by the Arians. 

344 i Mediolum, by the Catholics. 

346 i Agrippinium, against Euphrates, an Arian bishop. 

347 * Sardis, by the Semi-Arians, sometimes confounded with 

the other, and so held to be partly catholic, partly 
I heretic. 

347 i Mediolum 2, against the Arians (doubtful.) 

348 | Carthage 1 . 

349 , Sirmium, against Photinus, by the Catholics. 

350 Jerusalem, for Athanasius 

351 Sirmium 2, by the Arians against Phot inus. 

352 Rome, for Athanasius. 

353 * Aries, by the Arians. 

355 * Mediolum, id. 

356 * Better a, id. 

357 Sirmium. in which the Arians drew up a new form of faith. 

357 * Ancyra, by the Semi-Arians. 

358 * Ariminum, by the Arians. 

359 * Ariminum, id. 

359 Seluecia, by the Semi-Arians against the Acacians. j 

359 * Constantinople, by the Acacians and Arians. 

360 * Antioch, by the Arians 
362 Alexandria, for receiving apostate bishops. 



363 
363 

363 



Paris, against the Arians. 

Alexandria, by Athanasius, where a symbol of orthodox 

faith was drawn up. 
Antioch 2, in which the Arian bishops received in ap* 

pearance, the Nicene faith. 



448 TjIST of councils. 

A. C. 

364 Lampsacus, by Arians and Semi-Arians. 

364 Sicily, Illyria, and Tyana, to approve the Nicene faith 

365 Tyana, for the restoration to his see of Eustatheus Se- 
bastenus. 

Mediolum, under St Ambrose. 

Sens, determines for the Nicene faith. 
Conciliabulum, by Arians. 

Rome 1, against the Arians. 

Rome 2, id. 

Lampsacus against Eudoxius. 

Purza by Aetians. 

Rome 3, against Apollinaris and the disciples of Arius. 
Valentinum, in France for ordinations and discipline. 
Antioch, in which the Catholic bishops determine that 
six rival presbyters, should succeed in order Pauli- 
nus and Meletius, as bishops of that see. 

CONSTANTINOPLE 2 convoked by Theodosius, the 
emperor, restored Gregory Nazianzen to his see, de- 
fended the divinity of Holy Spirit against Macedo- 
nia, consisted of 150 bishops, and decreed the se- 
cond rank after Rome to Constantinople. 

Aquila, by Ambrose against two Arian bishops. 

Saragosia, in which two Priscilian bishops, though 
absent, were condemned. 

Rome* on ec. discipline. 

Constantinople, under Pope Damasus. 

Syda, against the Messalians or Euchites, and Saccaphon, 

Bardigala against the Priscilianists. 

Rome, on ec discipline 

Trivira in favor of Itacius, a Spanish bishop. 

Capua, concerning controversies in the church of Antioch. 

Nemausa. 

Carlhag* 2. 

Mediolum, against Jovinian. 

Ancyra, by Novations, 

Hijpo, on ec. discipline, (suppositions.) 

Contantinople, on the case of two competitor Bishops 
of Bostra. 

Andrumetium. 

Bajados. 

Tours, on morals. 

Carthage 1, 2, 3, 4 on ec. discipline. 

Alexandria, against the errors of Origen. 

Constantinople, against Antonius bishop of Ephesus. 

Toledo, against Priscilianists. 
' Africa, in which the bishops of Rome and Mediolanum 
were requested to send Italian priests to Africa, 
where there was at this time a deficiencv. 



LIST OP COUNCILS. 449 

\. c. 

401 I Africa, concerning receiving the Donatists. 

402 Milan, against rescens. 

403 At the Oak near < halcedon, against Chrysostom. 
Africa 1, concerning receiving the Donatists. 
Africa 2, against the Donatists. 
Africa 3, on some complaints against bishops. 
Toledo, id. 
Africa 4, to defend the church's temporalities against 

the Donatists, 

Africa h, 6, 7, against the Donatists. 

Africa 8, to solicit from Honorius that the Donatists 
might not be tolerated. 

Ptolemaisi in which the prefect Andronicus was excom- 
municated for his cruelty. 

Conference of Carthage, between Catholics and Dona- 
tists. 

Cyrta, against the Donatists, St. Austin being present. 

Carthage, against Catlestius a disciple of Pelagius. 

Africa, by Donatists 

Macedonia. 

DiospoliSy in which Pelagius pretended to renounce his 
error. 

Carthage, against Pelagius and Ccelestius . 

Milan,' id. 

Africa, id. 

Telepta, or Zeli 

Carthage 6, in which the subject of appeals to Rome 
was sharply agitated. 

Carthage 7, id. 

Carthage or Africa, id. 

Oriental, against the Messalians. 

Rome, against Nestorius. 

Alexandria, by Cyril against Nestorius. 

EPHESUS 3, convoked by Theodosius, and consisting 
of 200 bishops condemned Nestorius for admitting 
two persons in Christ, and distinguishing the virgin 
not as the mother of God but only of Christ. 
Ephesus, at the same time as the above, by John of 
Antioch, a friend of Nestorius, which also rescinded 
the acts of the other. 

Antioch, by St. Cyril in which Nestorius was condemned 
by John of Antioch 

Rome, in which Celestine was defended against Bassus. 

Armenia against Nestorius. 

Constantinople, on the primacy, between the churches 
of Alexandria and Antioch. 

Reiz, on ec. discipline. 

Orange 1. 

38 



450 LIST OF COUNCILS. 



A. C 

442 
444 
445 
446 

447 

448 
448 

449 
449 

449 
450 
450 
451 



451 
451 



452 
453 
454 
455 
459 
461 
465 
465 
465 
474 

475 
483 
483 
484 



487 
494 
195 



Vaison, whose canons are mingled with the last. 
Rome 1, against the J* anicheans. 
Rome 2, against Hilarius. bishop of Aries. 
Different places in France, in which missionaries were 

sent to Britain. 
Spain, against the Priscilianists. 
Constantinople 1, against Eutyches. 
Tyre and Berita, acquitted Ibas bishop of Edessa of 
Nestorianism. 

* Constantinople in favor of Eutyches. 

* Ephesus 2, called the council of robbers in which 

Eutyches was absolved and Flavianus condemned. 

Rome 3, in which the former was reprobated, 

Constantinople 3. 

In Ireland, by St. Patrick. 

Mediolum s by Eusebius, to whom Leo sent for subscr ip- 
tion his letter to Flavianus on the incarnation of the 
Word 

In France, perhaps Aries. 

CHALCEDON, consisting of 630 bishops, and four Legates 
of Pope Leo, (the emperor Marcianus and his wife 
Pulcheria being present with a large number of 
Senators and magistrates,) met on the 8th of Oct. 
It closed after 13 sittings on the 1st Nov., condemned 
the council of Ephesus, anno 449 7 with Dioscorus 
and Eutyches, who confounded the natures or divi- 
ded the powers of Christ 

Alexandria, for conversion of the Eutychians. 

Andegavense. on ec. discipline 

Jerusalem, by Juvenal to defend the Faith. 

Aries 3, in favor of Faustus of Lira. 

Constantinople, against the Eutychians. 

Tours, ) 

Venice, in Armorica, > on ec. discipline. 

Cambria* j 

Rome, decided that the case of Bps. belonged to Rome. 

Vienna, in which litanies for Rogation days were insti- 
tuted on account of earthquakes. 

Aries and Lyons. 

Rome, against Acacius and Peter Fullo. 

Constantinople, in the cause of Peter Fullo. 

Rome2, in which Vitales and Misenus, legates of Rome, 
are condemned for defending the cause of Acacius 
and P. Fullo. 

Rome 3, concerning apostates. 

Rome 1, to defend the Catholic faith. 

Rome 2, in which Misenus is absolved. 



LIST OF COUNCILS. 451 

Rome 1, against the craft used in choosing the Bps. of 

Rome. 
Rome 2, on the schism of Laurens. 
Rome 3, t id. 

Rome 4, in which* the election of Pope Symmachus is 

confirmed. 
Rome 5, against Schismatics. 
Rome 6, against the Sacrilegious. 
Byzacinum against King Thrasimund an enemy of 

Christianity. 
Agde, on ec discipline. 

Orleans, under Clovis first Christian King of France. 
Sydonia (a false Synod) by Eutychians and Acepha- 

lians. , ■-■ , 

British, (place uncertain) St. Dubricius is made Arch- 
bishop of the legions on the Issa. 
Rheims, on morals and against the Arians. 
Epirus, in which the four ecumenical councils are ap- 
proved. 
Terracona, on ec. discipline. 
Girone, jd. 

Epone, id. • 

Lyons, against Stephen for marrying a kinswoman. 
Constantinople acknowledges the council of Chalcedon, 

but determines against the power of Rome. # 
Jerusalem, confirms the acts of the above council. 
Tyre, id. 

Rome, peace between the east and west is resolved on, 
upon condition of condemning Acacius the author ot 
the Schism. 
British, against the Pelagians. 

Constantinople, by Epiphanius concerning his own or- 
dination. 
Lerida, on ec. discipline. 
Valenece, in Spain, ^ id. 
Aries 4, on ordinations. 

Carpentoratum, in which Agregius is suspended for 
holding ordinations against the canons of the Church. 
Orange, against the Semi-pelagians. 
Vala 2 and 3, on ec. discipline. 

Rome, in which Pope Boniface, contrary to canons, ap- 
points his successor. 
Rome, in which the same pontiff" in presence of the sen- 
ate and clergy disannulled the preceding election. 
Toledo, by Montanus its Bp. on ec. discipline. 
Rome, to establish the doctrine of the incarnation and 
suffering of one of the persons of the holy trinity* 



LIST OF COUNCILS. 



535 
536 
536 
536 
538 
540 
541 
545 
547 



550 



A. C 

B4|4/>^^for recovering church property from the Via- 

Auvergne, on ec. discipline. 
Constantinople, against the Acephali. 
.Jerusalem, lc j 

WelZi', ( ° r SiDty in Au . Stria ^ on ec - discipline, 
Barcelona, [$' 

Ow!ZT/ f ° r an « mbass y'to Justinian. 
Orleans 4, for restoring Bp. Marcus. 

MonT^' \l Wh l ch the three B P S - Theodore of 
Mopsueua Ibas of Edessa, and Theodoret of Cyrus ' 
were condemned. 

2 1 OrFZft '" ^ hic u Theodo >-e of M. was condemned. 

552 \orlZ ' a ?f nSt ^ Nestori ans andEutycbians. 
662 Ir^ .' d - and <>" ec. discipline. 

S, I Z™??' a 8 ainst ^e incestuous. 

553 CONSTANTINOPLE 5, convoked by Justinian against 
553 />,„!? hr - C Ca u P -' tula and ,he errors of Origan. 

553 fe / ' •'" ^ C £ the above was a PProved. 

*£?*' ,n wb,ch the Eastern Bps. condemned the 
5th ecumenical council, and thus created a schism 
ot a hundred years. 

554 Arks 5, on ec. discipline. 

555 Paris 2, in which Saffarracus its Bp. was deposed. % 
557 Pans 3 for the interest of different churches 

560 Landqff 1, 2, 3. 

563 Braga*, (metropolitan city of Portugal,) against here 

564 Lugo 1, (in Spain) on the Catholic faith. 
567 SSS SSSS^?** ™ fading ■** 

Lyons, to defend the peace of the Church. 

Braga 3, (in Spain) on ec. discipline. 

Lugo 2, by Nitifigius, abdicating. 

Paris, in consequence of some designs of king Guntram- 
nus. 

Paris, in which the Bp. of Rouen was convicted of 
treason. 

Mascon, to restrain the boldness of the Jews. 

Cavailon 3, (in France,) in which two adulterers were 
deposed and imprisoned. 

Rochelle, in which the count of Angoulesme was restor- 
ed to church communion. 

Brenna, in which Gregory of Tours was acquitted of ca- 
lumniating queen Fredegunda- and his accuser e\ 
communicated. 



57. 
572 
572 
576 



580 

581 

58* 

582 
583 



LIST OP COUNCILS. 453 

A. C. 

586 Antissa, by its Bishop. 
Lyons, on ec. discipline. 
Lyons 2, in favor of lepers. 
Faience, in which king Guntramnus confirms his grants 

to the church. 
Constantinople, in which John the Faster assumes the 

name of ecumenical patriarch. 
Toledo 3, in which the Goths abjure A nanism. 
Narbonne, on ec. discipline. 
Seville, on morals. 
Rome, on receiving schismatics. 
Poictiers, against two monks. 

Metz, in which iEgidius, Bp. of Rheims, is deposed. 
Ne?nours, in which Clotbaire is baptized at 8 years of age. 
Saragossa, on ec. discipline. 
Rome, in which a presbyter of Chalcedon is acquitted of 

heresy. 
Tole&* on ec. discipline. 
Huesca, (in Spain,) id. 
Barcelona, against some simoniacal presbyters. 
Rome 3, called Lateran, in favor of monks. 
Rome 4, condemns a certain juggler 
Worcester, by Austin the English Apostle. 
Byzacenum, to inquire into Clemens' conduct. 
Cavaillon. in which Dumnolus was put in place of St, 

Desiderius, arch-bishop of Vienna. 
Numidia, against the Simoniacal. 
Canterbury, by Austin to confirm the monastery of Peter 

and Paul founded by him. 
Rome, in which the mode of electing pontiffs is settled. 
Rome, on the affairs of the English church. 
Toledo, on the primacy of its church. 
Egara, on ec. discipline. 

Paris, to establish the rights of Metropolitans over Bps, 
Kent, on ec. discipline. 
Mascon, in favor of the rule of St. Columban against 

Agrestius. 
Seville, on ec discipline. 
Rheims, id. 

Alexandria, by Cyrus the Monothelite. 
Jerusalem, in favor of the doctrine of two wills in Christ 

by Sophronius 
Toledo 4, on ec. discipline. 

Toledo 5, to fix the time of reciting litaniesfor king Suintilla 
Toledo 6, in which Suintilla decreed the expulsion of in- 
fidels from his kingdom. 
Constantinople, which confirms the edict of Heraclius in 

favor of the JYIonothelites. 
38* 



154 list op councils. 

A. C. 

640 / .Rome, condemsthe sentence of the preceding. 

645 Orleans, against a heretic who spread his tenets through 

France. 

646 Numidia, i 

646 Pisa, V against the Monothelites. 
646 Carthage, ) 

646 Toledo 7, on casualties happening to the priests at the 
altar. 

648 Rome, against two relapsed Monothelites. 

649 Rome, called Laleran against the Monothelites. 

650 Chalon, on ec. discipline. 

653 Toledo 8, in which a Spanish king harangues on tradition, 
655 Toledo 9, concerning the property of dead priests. 

658 NantZy on ec. discipline. 

659 Toledo 10, decrees the celebration of the Annunciation 
659 CI eves. 

666 Merida, on ec. discipline. — 

667 Rome, in favor of John, a Cretan Bishop, whPhad ap- 

pealed from his Archbishop to Rome. 

672 In England, to promote quiet. 

673 Hereford, by Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury, on 

ec. discipline. 
675 Toledo 11, on ec. discipline. 
675 Braga, against some priests who would use milk at the 

Eucharist 

679 In England, against Eutychians and Monothelites. 

6S0 S"'S againSttheM ° n0theliteS - 

680 I Romano-Britannic, on the state of the English church. 



680 



681 

682 
682 
682 
682 

688 

691 

692 



693 



CONSTANTINOPLE 3, was ended the following year, 
condemned Pope Honorius and the Monothelites. 
and established the decrees of the five former gen 
eral councils. 

Toledo 12, Ervigiusis declared king. 

Rouen, under Ansbert, its Bishop. 

Toledo 13, in favor of the royal family. 

Toledo 14, against the Monothelites. 

Galliarum, unjustly deposes certain Bishops. 

Toledo 15, Egica, king of Spain promises to administer 
justice. 

Saragossa, on the consecration of churches. 

Constantinople, called Qmnisextum, or the council oi 
Trullo, held in the palace of Constantinople. Its 
Bishops published 150 canons supplementary to 
those of the 5th and 6th general councils, but they 
were always rejected by the church. 

Toledo 16, in which Sisbert, a Bishop, is found guilty of 
treason. 



LIST OP COUNCILS. 455 

Toledo 17, on ec. discipline. 

Beconsjield, (in England,) on the immunities of the 
church. 

Utrecht, on missions to the heathen. 

Berkhamstead, (in England,) on ec discipline. 

Aquiltia, in which that church separates from Rome, on 
the plea that the 5th gen. council condemning the 
three capitula, is contrary to the council of Chal- 
cedon. 

Toledo 18, whose acts are lost. 

Rome, at the suit of Justinian the emperor, petitioning 
that others might be substituted for the acts of the 
6th council which militated against the catholic 
discipline. 

Niddesdale, for restoring Wilfrid, Archbishop of York. 

St. Albans, (in England,) in favor of the monastery of 
Evesham. 

Constantinople, by the Monothelites. 

Rome, in which women who had suffered their husbands 
to enter into sacred orders are compelled not to 
marry. 

Rome, to prevent a Bishop of Fnesland from relinquish- 
ing his see. 

Rome, against the Joonoclasts. 

Rome, in which Gregory, a presbyter, was saved from 
deposition by the pontiff for not delivering his let- 
ter to Leo, the emperor. 

Rome 2, in favor of images. 

Cleves, on the freedom of churches. 

Rutisbon, on ec. discipline. 

Leptis, in which a part of ecclesiastical goods is given to 
support princes in their wars. 

Rome, } ,. . v 

Soissons, I on ec - <to"»Pl«»e. 

R e oZ a , m } a gai^t two heretics. 

Cleves, for correcting the manners of the English. 

Jgj 1 ' jonec. discipline. 

Constantinople, falsely called the 7th ecumenical. 

Fernense > discipline . 

Compeigne, $ ^ 

Germany, unjustly condemns a certain Abbot. 
\Rome, subjects the monastery of St. Hilary of Ravenija 
to the discipline of the church. 
766 Gtntille, on the Trinity and worship of images. 
769 \Rome< on the election of a pope and id, 
772 I fVorms, almost all whose acts are losti 



456 LIST OP COUNCILS. 

A. Oi 

772 Dingold, (in Bavaria,) in which many privileges are con- 

ceded to churches. 

773 Genoa, by Charlemagne, to defend the church of Rome 

against Desiderius, king of the Lombards. 

775 Duras, by Charlemagne. 

776 Worms, during Charlemagne's war against the Saxons. 

777 Paderborn, to evangelize the Saxons. 

780 Leipsic, to constitute bishop? among the Saxons. 
787 Paderborn, convoked by the duke of Saxony to disse- 
minate the catholic faith in his provinces. 
787 Calchutense, on ec. discipline. 

787 NICE 2, convoked by the emperor Constantine, — begun 

at Constantinople the year preceding, — determined 
against the Iconoclasts in favor of images. 

788 Inglehtim, 

788 Narbonne, against the heresy of Felix, Bishop of Urgela. 
788 Acleenese, (in Britain,) on ec. discipline. 

791 Friuli, on the rinity, the incarnation, andec. discipline. 

792 Ralisbon, against the heresy of Felix, Bishop of Urgela. 
794 Frankfort, against Felix and Elipaid. 

800 Rome, in which the pontiff solemnly denied his guilt. 
802 Altona, by the Bishop of Aquileia to petition Charlemagne 
against John, duke of Venice, persecutor of Bishops. 
798 Finchaia, concerning Easter. 

798 Beconsjield. 

799 Rome, against Felix and Elipand. 

799 Aixlachapelle, against Felix. 

800 Cleves, in favor of the catholic faith. 
802 Aixlachapelle, on ec discipline. 
303 Cleves, for the liberty of churches. 

806 * Constantinople, in which John, apriest, was improperly 

restored. 
806 At Theodovil/e, in which Charlemagne divides his em- 
pire among his sons. 
S09 Aixlachapelle, concerning the procession of the H. Spirit. 
Aries, \ 

813 T Matnce, > on ec- discipline. 
Chalon, ) 

814 Constantinople, by the Iconomachists. 
814 At Theodoville, in favor of Priests 

814 Spire, to appoint limits to the dioceses of Spire and Sois- 

sons. 
816 Aixlachapelle, on ec. discipline 

816 Zell, on the morals of ecclesiastics. 

S17 | Aixlachapelle, on the rule of St. Benedict. 

817 Ingleheim, against usurpers of church wealth. 

821 I Atino } in which Lewis regrets his treatment of Bernard. 



LIST OP COUNCILS. 457 

A. C 

824 * Paris, on images, apparently contrary to the 7th ecu 
menical council. 
Rome, on ec. discipline. 
Paris. id. 

Campeigne, in which the emperor Lewis is deposed. 
Metz, in which Ebbo Bishop of Rheims excommunicates 

the emperor. 
At Theodoville, in which Kbbo abdicates. 
Aixlachapelle, on ec. discipline. 
Lyons, against the Bishops of Lyons and Vienna. 
Chalons, to compose the differences between Lewis and 

his son. 
At Aqua Sextias, against Lothaire. 
Constantinople, in favor of images. 
Beauvis, in which Hincmar is elected Archbishop of 

Rheims. 
Meaux, against the retainers of church property. 
Pavis, completes the above council 
Mayence, concerning church immunities. 
Paris, confirms Hincmar in his Archbishopric. 
Mayence 2, against Godescalcus 
Turin, against Nomenorius. 
Pavia, to reform the morals of the church- 
* Cordova, against voluntary martyrs 
Soissons, in which the ordinations of Ebbo are annulled, 
Rome, in which Anastasius a cardinal priest is deposed. 
Constantinople, against Gregory, Bishop of Syracuse. 
Valence* (in Dauphiny,) against Scotch heretics.. 
Pavia, on ec. discipline. 
Cres, (in Flanders,) id. 
Mayence, concerning ec privileges. 
* Constantinople, in which Photius is declared bishop of 

that see by Gregory the schismatic. 
Tullo, against Wenillo a bishop. 
Constantinople, in which Photius condemns Ignatius. 
At Contents, in which Lewis of Germany, Charles Calvus 
of France, and Lothaire of Lorrain, enter into a 
league- 
Rome, against John, bishop of Ravenna. 
*Aqua Sfixtia, favors the marriage of Lothaire w ith 

Valdrada. 
Saponaria, (in the suburbs of Lorrain,) in which the 

league of Coblentz was confirmed before bishops 
Metsi in which the legates of Rome confirm Lothaire's 

marriage with Valdrada. his concubine. 
Rome* in which Gontharius is deposed. 
Rome, in which Photius is condemned and Ignatius re- 
stored, 



458 LIST OF COUNCILS. 



Sylvanectinum, in which Hincmar deposes the bishop of 
Soissons. 

Rome^ in which the legates of Rome to Metz the former 
year, were deposed.. 

Rome, in which Rothald, bishop of Soissons is restored. 

Soissons, concerning ordinations held by Ebbo. 

Troyes, id. 

Rome* against Photius, patriarch of Constantinople. 

Worms, on ec. discipline. 

CONSTANTINOPLE 4. convoked by the emperor Basil, 
pronounced sentence against the schismatic Photius 
and restored Ignatius to his see of Constantinople. 

*Mets, deposes king Lewis in favor of Charles. 

*Vermeria, in which Hincmar appeals to Rome. 

* Atino, in which Hincmar is cruelly treated by his en- 
emies, who put out his eyes. 

Cologne, on ec. discipline. 

Dusiacum, in which Hin cmar promises obedience to his 
Metropolitan. 

Pavia, in which Charles, son of Lewis, is inaugurated 
Emperor 

Pontigorti confirms ' harles' election. 

Neustria, against Hugo, a bastard of Lothaire. 

Troyes, m wl>ich the bishop of Rome being present, re- 
stores Hincmar 

Rome, concerning the election of the Emperor. 

Rome, in which Peter is deputed to absolve Photius. 

Constantinople 8, improperly called ecumenical, consist- 
ed of 395 bishops, who restored Photius, abrogated 
the 8th general council, and struck the words fill- 

o oqut from the creed. 

Rome, in which Anastasius. bishop of Naples and confed 
erate of the Saracens, is excommunicated. 

Cologne, against usurpers of Church property. 

Mayence and Metz, on ec discipline. 

Rheims, in favor of Charles the simple. 

Tivoli, on ec. discipline. 

*Rome< in which Pope Stephen unjustly condemns For- 
mosus, his predecessor 

Rome, in which the inauguration of Lambert is confirmed, 

Ravenna, in which the canons of Rome in 897 are blot- 
ted out. 

Soissons, on ec. discipline. 

Coblenlz, on degrees of consanguinity. 

Trosso, in favor of the church of Cambray. 

Vioberg, in which those who put out the eyes of Benno. 
bishop of Metz, were condemned. 

Exford* on ec discipline 

Rheims, id. 

Narbonne, concerning the limits of certain diocesseSc 



LIST OF COUNCILS. 459 

A, C. 

941 Soissons, on the dilute between Hugo and Artald for the 
bishoprick of Rheims. 
* Constantinople, in which Tryphon, the lawful patriarch, 

is deposed. 
Virodunum, on the dispute between Hugo and Artald. 
Asiorga, whose acts are lost, 
Musoniense, id. 

Inglehei m, on ec. discipline, declares Artald bishop of 

Rheims. 
Treves, excommunicates count Hugo. 
949 | Rome, confirms the two former. 
952 Augsburgh, on ec. discipline. 
962 J Meaux, against causing Hu*o to succeed Artald. 

*Rome, in favor of Leo against John XII. true Pope. 
Constantinople, concerning Niceph. Phocas, marrying the 

widow of Romanus emperor of the East. 
Rome, against Leo. 
*Rome, by Leo against Benedict V. 
Ravenna, on ec. discipline. 
In England, on the incontinency of Clerks. 
Rome, in favor of the monastery of St, Mary of Giasten- 

bury. 
Ingleheim, whose acts are lost. 



944 

947 
947 
947 

948 
948 
948 



963 
963 

964 
965 
967 
969 
971 

972 



974 Modena, on the reconciliation of Peter with Lambert. 



975 
975 
983 
988 
989 
990 
991 
993 
995 
995 
996 
997 

997 
998 

1005 
1006 
1011 
1012 
1017 
1022 
1022 
1029 



Constantinople* in which Basiliu3 is deposed. 

Winchester, in favor of Monks. 

Rome, concerning Giseler, bishop of Magdeburgh. 

Landaff, against king Arthamalus, a patrioide. 

Rheims, chooses Arnulph arch-bishop of the place. 

Sylvanctanum, against certain traitors. 

Rheims, in which Arnulph is unjustly deposed. 

Rome, in which bishop Ulric is canonized. 

Muso, in which Arnulph is restored. 

Rheims, to perfect the restoration. 

Rome, in which the imperial electors are created. 

Pavia, in which Crescens, an enemy of the Pope, is ex- 
communicated. 

Sandivitch, on the restitution of tythes. 

Rome, on the case of Giseler, charged with avarice, for 
transferring his seat from Marsburgh to Magdeburgh. 

Dort, on ec. discipline. 

Frankfort, to erect the bishoprick of Bamburgh. 

Bamburgh, on controversies between some bishops. 

Leonlium, in favor of its own church. 

Orleans, against the Manicheans. 

Schelstadl, on ec. discipline. 

Aixlachapelle, on a dispute between two bishops. 

Limoges, in which the title of Apostle of the province is 
given to Martial. 



460 LIST OF COUNCILS. 

A. C 

1035 Tivoli, on ec. discipline. 

1046 Sutrium, in which Gregory VI. abdicates. 

1049 Rome, against the simoniacal. 

1049 Rheims, on ec. disci pl'ne. 

1049 Mayence, against Simon}-. 

1050 Rome 2, condemns Berengar and absolves Lanfranc. 
1050 Vercelli, id. 

1050 Coja, (in Spain,) on reformation of morals. 

1051 Rome, against Gregory of Vercelli, an adulterer. 
1053 Rome, to canonize St. Gerard. 

1055 Florence, against alienators of church property. 
1055 Lyons, against its simoniacal arch -bishop. 

1055 Turin, in which Berengar recants. 

1056 Cologne, in which Baldwin and Godfrey form a league 

with Henry. 
1056 Toulouse, against Simony. 
1056 Compostella, on ec, discipline. 
1059 Sutrium, deposes the Antipope Benedict Mincius. 
1059 Rome, in which Berengaruis recants for the 3d time. 

1059 Paris, on the inauguration of Philip of France. 

1060 Jacca, (in Spai» .) 

1060 Basil, in which a Pope is chosen from the Lombards. 
1060 Osborne, (in Germany,) confirms the election of Alexan- 
der II. 

1062 Arragon. 

1063 Rome, condemns Peter, bishop of Florence, as a heretic. 

1064 Mantua, in which Alexander defeods his election. 

1064 Barcelona, abolishes the laws of the Goths. 

1065 Rome, against the incestuous. 

1069 Winchester, condemns Stigandus, usurper of the church of 
Canterbury. 

1069 Mayence, in which Henry is persuaded from divorcing 

Bertha. • 

1070 Mayence 2, against a simoniacal bishop. 

1072 In England, where the primate of Canterbury is placed 

before him of York. 

1073 Erford, by Sigipid, bishop of Mentz. 

1074 Rome, on reformation of ec. discipline. 

1074 At St. Genesia, near Lucca, against the clergy of Lucca. 

1074 In England, deposes St. Ulstan unjustly. 

1075 Mayence, against lascivious priests. 
1075 London, on ec. discipline. 

1075 Rome, id. 

1076 Worms, against Gregory VII. 

1076 Rome, in which the Emperor Henry is excommunicated 

by the Pope, 

1077 *Pavia, against Pope Gregory VII. 

1078 \Rome. in which two bishops are excommunicated, 



LIST OF COUNCILS. 46i 

A C 

1078 j Rome, concerning restoring the church. 

1079 Home, in which Berengarius recants again. 

1079 Britain, against false penitents. 

1080 Rome, transfers the kingdom of Germany to Rodolph. 
1080 ^Brescia, in favor of Guibert,antipope. 

1080 Lyons, against Manassa, intrusive archbishop of Rheims. 
1080 Avignon, in which Hugo obtains the bishoprick of Gratia- 
nopolis. 
*Meaux, chooses Arnulph bishop of Soissons. 
Rome, against the emperor Henry. 
Rome, on ec. discipline. 
Rome, against the antipope Guibert. 
Quedlenburgh, against Henry. 
*Mayence, in favor of Guibert, antipope. 
Capua, concerning the restoration of Pope Victor III. 
Beneventum, excommunicates Guibert. 
Rome, approves of all done against Guibert. 
Tricassinum (in Apulia,) on degrees of consanguinity. 
Amalfi, against false penitents. 
Toulouse, on ec. discipline. 
Placentia, id. 

Clairmont, in which Philip of France is excommunicated 

and the crusade resolved upon. 
*In England, in which Anselm is driven out for support- 
ing the Pope. 
*Turin, in which Philip is absolved and the crusade de- 
creed. 
Barri, concerning the procession of the H. Spirit. 
Rome, against Guibert Antipope and for the crusade. 
Jerusalem, in which Theodoret, legate of Rome, is put in 

place of Arnulph. • 

Poictiers, against king Philip for concubinage. 
Lateran or Rome 1, against the Emperor Henry IV. 
London \, deposes some vicious clerks. 
London 2, on ec. discipline. 

Trica, in which a bishop clears himself of Simony. 
Florence, against a bishop who taught that Antichrist was 

born. 
Quedlenburg, on ec. discipline. 
Mayence, in which Henry IV. abdicates in favor of his 

son Henry V. 
Guastalinum, (in Lombardy,) to reconcile Schismatics. 
Jerusalem, in which the usurper Ebremarus relinquished 

the See. 
Treves, against the Simoniacs. 
London, against investitures by laymen. 
Beneventum, id. 

Rheims, against monks resisting episcopal jurisdiction. 
39 



402 LIST OF COUNCILS. 

A. C. 

11 11 Jerusalem, against the emperor Henry V, 

1 112 Lattran 2, against investitures granted by Henry V. 

1113 Vienna, id. 

1114 Beneventum, in favor of the abbot of Mt. Cassini. 

1 1 15 Btauvis, against Henry the emperor. 

11 16 Syria, under Arnulph, patriarch of Jerusalem. 

1116 Cologne, in which the emperor is again excommunicated > 
1116 Lattran 3, in which Lateran 2 is confirmed. 
1 118 Rome, grants the Abbot of Mt. Cassini the title of Abbot 
of Abbots. 

1118 Capua, ) 

1119 Cologne, > against Henry V. 
1119 Rheims, ) 

1119 | Vienna, whose acts are lost. 

1120 Samaria, on ec. discipline. 

1122 LATERAN 1, under Pope Calixtus, for recovering the 
Holy Land. 

1122 , Rome, in favor of the monks of Mt. Cassini. 

1123 , Rome, in which the Pope and Emperor are reconciled. 
il24 Toulouse, concerning oaths against heretics. 

1 124 London, on ec. discipline. 

1127 Trica, bestows a rule and the white vest to the Templars 

1127 London, on ec, discipline. 

1128 Ravenna^ deposes the bishops of Venice and Aquileia. 
1130 Clairmont, against the Antipope Anacletus. 

1 130 Joar, on the rights of the Church. 

1131 | Rheims, excommunicates the antipope Anacletus. 
1131 ! Liege, condemns Anacletus. 

1131 i Mayence, deposes Bruno. 

1 132 Placentia, against Anacletus. 
1134 Pfsa, id. 

1 138 Northampton, on distribution of benefices. 

1 138 London, on ec. discipline. 

1139 LATERAN 2, under Innocent 2, against the Antipop 

Peter, and on church privileges. 

1139 Winchester, on the immunities of the Church. 

1140 Sens, against Peter Abaillard. 

1142 Winchester, in which the English clergy claim the elec- 
tion of the king. 

1142 Antioch, condemns Rodolph the patriarch for Simony, 

1 143 Jerusalem, against the errors of the Arminians. 
1143 London, 

1 146 Verceli, on the crusade. 

1147 Paris, against Gilbert Porretan. 
3148 Rheims, id. 

1148 Treves, in which the Pope permits St. Hildegard to write 

his revelations. 
1 151 1 Beaujeau, in which the marriage contract between Lewis 



LIST OF COUNCILS. 463 

A. C. 

of France and Eleanor of Aquitaine is dissolved by 
mutual consent on the ground of consanguinity. 

*Pavia, in favor of Anacletus. 

* Lodi, in favor of another Antipope Victor. 

London, cbooses St. Thomas archbishop of Canterbury. 

Tours* against the Antipope Victor. 

*C7are, (in Euglaod,) in which St. Thomas and other 
bishops subscribe articles contrary to the liberties of 
tbe realm. 

^Northampton, against St. Thomas of Canterbury. 

Laleran, excommunicates and deposes the emperor Fred- 
erick. 

Cassel, (in Ireland,) on ec. discipline. 

Abrincense, which absolve king Henry for the murder 
of St. Thomas. 

London, on ec. discipline. 

Lambesila, against the Albigenses. 

Venice* in which the Pope and Emperor enter into league. 

LATERAN 3, under Pope Alexander III. against Ihe 
Waldenses, Albigenses, and Schismatics, ordained by 
the Antipope Victor. 

Paris, against the Saracens. 

In England, in favor of the crusade. 

Paris, id. 

York) on ec. discipline. 

Dalmatia, id. 

Dijon, against Philip for divorcing his wife. 

London, on ec. discipline. 

Scotland, on observing Sunday. 

Rome, deposes the emperor Otho. 

Lisbon, against Peter of Arragon. 

Murelum, (in Portugal,) to pacify Peter, 

London, absolves king John. 

Monlpelier, in which Simon de Montfortis declared Count 
of the provinces of which he had despoiled the Albi- 
genses. 

LATERAN 4, under Innocent III. against the Albigen* 
ses, condemns Abbot J oachim. This is the first coun- 
cil in which the word Transubstantiation occurs ; 
there were present 1283 fathers, among whom were 
673 bishops. 

Oxford, on ec. discipline. 

In Germany, against Simony. 

Westminster, in which the Pope by his legates proposes a 
grant to himself of 2 prebends in each cathedral, an$ 
in every Abbacy of 2 portions of its revenue. 

Narb<mne § against Raymond, Count of Toulouse. 



404 LIST OF COUNCILS. 

A. C. 

1229 | Arragon, dissolves the marriage between James of Arra- 

gon and Eleonora, but legitimates their son Alphouso. 

1230 St. Quinlin, in favor of bishop Milo. 

1231 Lyons, ) ., 
1231 JVoyon, $ 1Q ' 

1231 Castle Gonitis on ec. discipline. 

1234 Rome, on the crusade. 

1235 Narbonne, against heresy. 
1237 London, on ec. discipline. 

1242 Arragon, against the Waldenses. 

1245 LYONS 1, under Innocent IV. on the crusade. It at- 
tempts to depose the emperor Frederick : but that 

power (says Petavius the Jesuit, from whom this list 

is translated,) against Christian princes, belongs net- 
ther to the Pontiff nor to the Church. 
LYONS 2, under Gregory X. for recovery of the Holy 

Land and against the errors of the Greeks. 
Arragon, for canonizing Raymond of Penafort. 
Salisbury, on ec. discipline. 
Ravenna, id. 

Wirtzburg, refuses the tribute demanded by the Pope and 

Emperor. 
Milan, on ec. discipline. 
Salisbury, to unite the Templars with the knights of the 

Teutouic order. 
London, to expel the Jews from England. 
Milan, to relieve the Christians in Jerusalem. 
Aschafenburgh % on ec. discipline. 
Lyons, id. 

London, against raising any tax without consent of the 

council. 
Bajos, on discipline. 
Rome, against Philip the fair. 
Salisbury , on the tythes belonging to the pope. 
Salisbury, on discipline. 
Cologne , id. 

Ravenna, in favor of the Templars. 
Mayence, id. 

VIENNA, under Clement V. there being present the king? 

of France, England, and Arragon, the patriarchs of 

Alexandria and Antioch, and more than 300 bishops. 

The order of Templars is abolished, the Fratricelli. 

Dulcinists, Beghards, and Beguins, are condemned- 

and a crusade is treated of. 
131 1 j Ravenna 2, on discipline. 

1314 I Ravenna 3, id. 

1315 j Samur, on ec. jurisdiction. 
1315 f Noega, in favor of the clergy. 



LIST OF COUNCILS. 465 



A. C. 

1317 Silvanectense, id. 

1317 Ravenna 4. on ec. discipline. 

1322 In the valley of Moletta, on ec. discipline 

1324 Toledo, on discipline. 

1326 Avignon, id. 

1327 Avignon, against the Antipope Nicolaus V 
1341 Constantinople, in favor of Gregory. 

1341 In England. 

1342 London, on discipline. 
1344 Noyons, on ec. jurisdiction. 
1347 Paris, on ec. discipline, 



1347 
1351 
1355 
1362 

1365 

1368 
1382 
1386 

1388 

1391 
1396 
1399 
1409 
1409 

1409 
1409 



4414 



S420 
i 422 



Toledo, on the immunity of the church. 

Bittera. on discipline. 

Toledo, on the authority of Synodal constitutions. 

Lambeth, (in England,) on the honorable retribution of 
Presbyters. 

Anjou, on discipline. 

Lavaurense, oh religion and discipline* 

London, against Wickliff. 

Salisbury, on discipline. 

Valentia, (in Spain,) by Peter de Luna, afterwards An- 
tipope. 

London, by William de Courtney, arch-bp. of Canterbury, 

London, against Wickliff. 

Canterbury, on the immunity of the church. 

Udo, (in the diocess of Aquileia,) against schismatics. 

^Arragon, in which Peter de Luna, the Antipope, is cho- 
sen under the name of Benedict XIII. 

* Perpignon, confirms the preceding Synod. 
PISA, esteemed in France the 14th ecumenical council, 
deposes the two contending Popes, Benedict XIIL 
and Gregory XII. and appoints in their place Alex 
ander V. who approved the council, and called the 
following council of Constance. 
CONSTANCE, esteemed in France the 15th ecumenical 
council because it was convened by John XXIII. 
lawful successor of Alexander V. as supplementary 
to the council of Pisa. In the council of Constance 
John XXIII.voluntarily abdicated to heal the schism, 
and in his place Martin V. was chosen, who appro- 
ved all the acts of the council. The doctrines of 
Hus* and Wickliff were also prescribed. The coun- 
cil sat for four years. 
Pavia, appointed by the former, gave beginning to the 
council of Basil ; and was afterwards translated to 
Sienna on account of the plague. 
Sienna, supplementary to the former, in which one de 
cree was passed against schismatics. 



400 LIST OF COUNCILS. 



Tortosa, on schism. 

BASIL, begun in the plain of Pavia, afterwards continu- 
ed at Sienna by Eugenius IV. who approved its 16 
former sessions and annulled the rest, from the 26th 
inclusive, which twenty-six relating almost entirely 
to the condemnation of the Bohemians, the Galli- 
can church approved, while the faculty of sacred 
theology at Paris added to these the decree of the 
26th session concerning the immaculate conception 
of the virgin. This council, Eugenius afterwards 
transferred from Ferara to Florence. 

Berri, concerning the pragmatic sanction. 

FLORENCE, begun at Ferara by Eugenius IV. to re- 
concile the Greeks and Latins. John Paloelogus 
and the patriarch of Constantinople were present. 
Many Romish divines of the 15th cent, doubted ol 
its ecumenical character. It is now acknowledged- 

Frisinghens, on ec. discipline. 

Turin, id. 

Constantinople, in the church of St. Sophia, whose act* 
are falsified. 

* Lyons, in which Felix V. abdicates the popedom. 

Cologne, } 

Soissons, /onec. discipline. 

York, ) 

Cologne, in a judiciary form. 

Toledo, or Arenda, on ec. discipline. 

Sens, on the veneration due to churches. 

Turin, on the injuries suffered by the French from the 
Pope. 

*Pisa, convoked by several cardinals as ecumenical. 

LATERAN, begun under Julius XL and finished under 
Leo X. anno 1517, against the Synod of Pisa, for 
recovery of the holy land, on ec discipline, and for 
abrogating the pragmatic sanction. Many Romish 
doctors doubt the ecumenical character of this coun- 
cil. The Ultramontanists allow free discussion on 
the subject, because Leo X. defended the rights of 
the Romish church beyond bounds. 

Berri, against Luther. 

Cologne, on reforming the clergy. 

TRENT was begun in 1545, and closed in 1563, against 
Luther, Zuingle, and Calvin, and on ec discipline 
In 1547, it was removed to B,ologna, and 8 months 
after recalled to Trent. In this place it was thrice 
interrupted and as often resumed. Its canons are 
received in France, as respects doctrine, but as rr 
gards discipline are rejected. 



LIST OF COUNCIL*. 46? 



A. C 

1549 
1565 
1565 
1565 
1575 
1575 
1575 
1581 
1582 
1583 
1583 
1583 
1583 
1584 
15S5 
1590 
1594 



Treves, on ec. discipline. 

Cologne 2, on reformation of morals. 

Treves 2, on the Catholic faith and ec. discipline. 

Milan 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, by Charles Berromeo till 1582. 

Toledo, concerning observance of the Tridentine canons. 

Constantinople, deposes Joseph, its patriarch, for simony. 

Tortosa, on discipline. 

Rouen, on ec. discipline. 

Cairo, on a union between the Copts and Latins. 

Rheims, on observing the Tridentine canons. 

Bordeaux, on the institution of Seminaries. * 

Tours, } 

Anjou, >on ec. discipline. 

Berri, ) 

Mexico, on the mode of living among the Indian converts. 

Toulouse, on discipline. 

Avignon, on observing the Tridentine canons. 



\^Z Dampier, (in India,) against Nestorianism. 



1607 
1609 
1612 
1612 

1624 
1639 
1652 



Malines, on discipline. 
Narbonne, id. 

Sens, against a treatise of Richer doct. Sarb.on ec. power. 
Mesopotamia, by Elias, patriarch of Babylon, for receiv- 
ing Paul 5th's profession of faith. 
Bordeaux, on ec. discipline. 
Constantinople, against Calvinists. 
Constantinople, by Parthenius, id. 



ERRATA. 



The following are the most important errata, which the reader 
is requested to correct. 

Page 42, line 20, for " This," read His. 

" 56, ;t 32, for " Stromaat," read Stromata. 

" 62, in the third note, (which should form part of the se- 
cond, and be connected with the third note in page 63,) for 
;; This unction was," read There was also an unction. 
Page 63, line 3, for "four," read fourteen, and line 6, for t; To,'' 

read For. 
Page 89, for « III." read IV. 

" 105, line 2 of the note, for " Julina" read Julian. 

• 4 112, place the reference of note second after Augustin. 

" 133, line 6, for " difinition sentenced," read definitive sen 
tence. 
Pa ge 142, line 12, for " Hunerie," read Huneric. 

t; 161, line 2, for " ruin. It" read ruin, it. 

" 187, last line of note, for " strick," read stricken. 

" 192, line 24, after " learned," read men. 

" 244, line 4, for " compound," read compend. 

" 260, line 26, for " This pontiff," read Clement V. 

" 343, line 2, for " were," read was. 

« 364, line 30, for « Rome," read Ormus. 






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